Ruby Stark
by cambler
Summary: Ruby Stark is the daughter of the arrogant Tony Stark- she has existed for 16 years unbeknownst to him. She hasn't lived the same easy and extravagant life as her father, she went to bed hungry more nights then not. Her mother brought her to America in hopes to rekindle her love with Tony, but succumbed to a disease shortly after crossing the border, leaving Ruby all alone.
1. Chapter 1

He didn't know I even existed. I didn't even know he was my father until my mother was on her deathbed. I had no intention on ever coming out about it- I mean who would even believe me? No one, that's who. They would all look at me like I was crazy when the words, "Tony Stark is my father." slipped through my lips.

Or so I thought, but as my social worker drug me up to Stark Tower by the arm, me fighting against her, begging her not to do this, I realized it apparently wasn't so crazy when all they had to do to see if I was lying was a simple blood test. Security stopped her before we even got to the elevator.

"Ma'am, what is going on here." One security guard asked.

"I am with social services, I need to see Tony Stark, immediately. I have tried numerous times to get in touch with him via phone and email." Mrs. Hartworth, my social worker, the meanest, grouchy social worker there ever was, snapped in the guards face.

"And what exactly does social services want with Tony Stark?" Nick Fury's voice caught me off guard, probably Mrs. Hartworth too, but she would never let it show.

"I can't divulge that information to you." She snapped again.

He raised his brow and turned his eyes- uh- eye- onto me. "If something happened that resulted in the death of her parents, Tony gives his deepest apologies, but it has been proven time and time again, that we are not at fault for any deaths thus far." His voice was softer, but it was still firm.

She gave him a snarky crooked smile, you know the kind- the bitchy kind- before turning her nose up, "If you do not take us to Tony Stark this instant, you will be held in contempt of court, I can assure you that."

He sighed and rubbed his face with his hand, "Whatever this is about ma'am, if Tony forgot something, or promised something and it didn't come through, we can work it out."

"Take us to him. Now." Her voice was so sharp even I cringed at it. Nick Fury listened this time, escorting us into the elevator. "We really don't have to do this Mrs. Hartworth." I whispered. She scoffed, "Oh yes, we do."

My latest stunt apparently really ticked her off. Something about superglue on a toilet seat, and hacking into the camera system at the girls home really set her off. She was done with me. I was looking at juvy if Mr. Stark didn't take responsibility for me, even though, I somewhat thought she may just leave me there even if he refused. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Nick Fury took us to a conference room with glass doors and walls, part of Avengers team was there. "Tony, social services is here for you." Nick said as he opened the door.

"I don't have time for this." Tony said, he wore his sunglasses in the room as he demonstrated something, his hair a mess, and his voice short, every word was clipped and full of annoyance.

"Oh, I suggest you make time." Mrs. Hartworth snapped.

Tony rolled his eyes at her, "Alright, just spit it out then so we can work this out."

She pulled a tape recorder out of her purse, flipping it on, "Just to confirm, you are giving me permission to discuss the personal and legal matters at hand with everyone in the room still here?"

"Jesus, yes! Whatever you say to me they will know anyhow. Just get on with it." He snapped at her.

An ugly grin slithered across her face again, and she reach her bony hands back around my arm and drug me the rest of the way in the room with her. She took her folder out, licking her fingers and pulling out the first page. "Mr. Stark, this is Ruby. Ruby's mother died nearly 3 years ago from Glanders, although she had made it to the united states from Brazil when she started showing major symptoms, despite doctors best efforts she could not overcome it. Her name was Sophia Silva, does that name sound at all familiar to you, Mr. Stark?"

"No, it doesn't sound at all familiar, in fact I am not sure what this has to do with me at all." He snapped. _He didn't remember my mother?_

"Well, then allow me to just cut right to the chase. You see-" Mrs. Hartworth began, but I quickly cut in, "What do you mean her name doesn't sound familiar?" I snapped, stepping closer to him, "Because of you she was shunned from her village, even her own family turned away from her! She told me of your love, you said you loved her, that is something she clung to! She gave me everything she could, she starved so I wouldn't, she was poor and begged on the streets because of you, and you can't even remember her name?!"

"Whoa kid, I don't know what you're even talking about."

"Mr. Stark, Ruby is your daughter. We have DNA tests to prove it."

Tony's face turned as white as a sheet of paper as she handed him the paper and he quickly read it. "There has got to be a mistake, she cannot be my daughter." He said, his voice hoarse.

"No mistake, Mr. Stark," I cut back in, "I have been tested 3 times. Not that I needed it to be sure. My mom was no liar, she gave me your last name because she knew who my father was." I turned back to Mrs. Hartworth, "Just take me to juvy, Mrs. Hartworth."

"Whoa, whoa, juvy?" Bruce Banner said as he stood from his seat. "What kind of social worker are you?"

"The kind of social worker who has tried and tried with no success. So, either Mr. Stark can take her, or she will go to a juvenile detention center. She has been in a girls home since her mother died, we cannot deport her she is underage and no one knows of any family that would take her, and especially not now that we know she is really Mr. Stark's daughter. Social services will no longer home her."

"Tony, if she really is your daughter-" Clint, AKA Hawkeye, started, but Nick cut him off, "Tony is clearly in shock, I can tell because I have never seen him not talking while his eyes are open, so I speak for him when I say she can stay. If he changes his mind, he can give you a call."

"Well there is paperwork that needs to be filled out, and she has no things of her own except for the clothes on her back, which we can consider a gift from social services, she needs a room and whatnot-"

"We'll get that taken care of, won't we Tony." Nick said, but Tony was frozen, just staring at me.

"Alright, since you are a government entity of sorts, and we already have done a thorough background check on Tony, and the rest of you, I suppose this will work."

She handed them the folder, gave them a brief overview and then turned back to me, "I trust you know how to reach me if need be?" Her voice was sweet, caring almost, for the first time ever.

"Yes ma'am." I said.

"Good, you behave, I won't be there to keep you from jail now."

I nodded and turned to watch her walk out the door, then sucked in a deep breath and turned back to the room full of people staring at me.


	2. Chapter 2

"So wait, Tony has an offspring, a daughter at that, and it is not Peppers and he had no idea it existed." Thor's voice boomed through the room.

"She, Thor, not it." Bruce corrected.

"Pepper will not be pleased." Thor finished as he, too, stared at me.

"Ruby-" Clint began as he took a step towards me, but then Tony abruptly dropped the test results and began shaking his head, "I can't do this." He said as he practically ran from the room.

We all watched him leave, and then Clint came up to me, "It's okay, Ruby. This is shocking news for him, he needs time to adjust, that's all."

I brushed my hair back behind my ear, and looked up at him, "Listen, it was nice of you guys to cover for me or whatever, but I can take care of myself, you guys don't have to do this."

"You're only like what, 12, do you even know what taking care of yourself means?" Nick said with a chuckle.

"I'm 16, and yeah I do. I grew up in Brazil, and not the part where you vacation to, the parts they tell you to stay away from. Trust me, I am more than capable of taking care of myself." I snapped back.

"Well, you're not going to" Bruce cut in, "Why don't we find you a place to sleep for tonight, and we will just wait for Tony to get his head together and come back."

"She had no clothes to wear." Thor said, "Don't human girls require the sleep uniforms in order to sleep."

They all looked at each other, they were all men. Grown men. Well, Thor is an alien prince, but same difference. "I can call Nat, I'm sure she can help get her some clothes." Clint said.

"Whoa, whoa wait, are you sure we should do that, this is Tony's personal life here. Don't you think it's not our place to tell Natasha?" Bruce said.

"Not your place to tell Natasha what?" I turned to see Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. "I just passed Tony as he ran out of here so fast his feet were barely even touching the ground. What's going on here?" She finished as she turned her eyes on me, looking me up and down before turning back to the room of uncomfortable men.

"Tony has an offspring, Ruby, and it- _**she**_ \- is not Pepper's and he had no idea _**she**_ existed." Thor said as he pointed at me.

Natasha's eyes got wide as she stared at me, looking me over again, "Is the Asgardian prince right?" She asked, her voice slightly breathless.

"Yes." Bruce said, "He is right. This is Ruby Stark, Tony's daughter. Social Services just brought the DNA test to prove it."

"She needs clothes." Nick Fury said, "And Tony isn't capable of helping with that right now, so could you-"

"Yeah, I have some clothes that would probably fit, atleast to get you through tonight. I will take you shopping tomorrow." Her voice was hesitant, I knew she just wanted me to go away so that they could all talk about me.

"Let's get you to a room, and Natasha will bring you those clothes." Clint said.

He took me to a room with a bed in the middle of the room against a far wall, a TV, a bathroom, and a dresser, and he just left me there, assuring me he would be right back.

I flopped onto the bed- it was the most comfortable thing I had ever laid on. I felt the tears swell up in my eyes and run down my cheeks. Tony Stark couldn't even _remember_ my mother, and yet she had died for the seed he put inside of her- because he lied to her about love. He lied just to get my mom in bed, and she died thinking he only ever thought of her, that he loved her eternally. But it was all a lie.


	3. Chapter 3

This would be huge. It was going to change the whole freaking world. Of course, the Avengers were always first. I would blow it by them- they would help me work out any and all possible flaws- everything had flaws. Pepper fixed my tie, and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and wished me good luck on my presentation. She knew how big this was for me, even if when I explained it to her she didn't understand. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me, and as I looked into her eyes, I made the same vow to myself I had been for years, every time I had looked into those beautiful blue eyes. I vowed I would do everything in my power to never, ever lose her.

I had all attention on me- things were going so well- things were going great. That was, right up until Nicky boy walked in, interrupting my presentation, along with a mean, old, grumpy social worker, and a child. " _Oh great."_ I thought to myself, figuring I was somehow at fault for the girls misfortune.

I didn't realize how at fault for her misfortune I was until I held those test results in my hand. They had tested _three times._ There was no mistake, the numbers came back perfect every time. They tested it against the results the government had on me, my DNA samples. It felt like my chest was caving in on me, like I was being crushed. I didn't even realize the social worker had left, I kept my eyes on her, on _Ruby._ I memorized every detail of her. Her caramel colored skin, she had one eye that was golden, deep, with one spot that had a dark fleck in it, while the other eye was half a mossy green color and half a light blue- she had a genetic mutation of sorts. I almost didn't notice it at first, but it was there. Her hair was black, blacker than the abyss it felt like I was falling into. Her lips were slightly cracked, but I noticed she chewed her lips, but her mouth shape, her eye shape, her nose, those were my features in her, undoubtedly. She had on very worn out tennis shoes, dark denim skinny jeans- rips all over them, some of them purposefully there, and some of them not, she had an oversized plaid shirt on, the sleeves were rolled down despite the nearly 95 degree weather. I dropped the paper from my hands. "I can't do this." I choked out, and quickly left the room. I ran from the conference room to the parking garage. I unlocked my Acura NSX and jumped in, flooring it out of Stark Tower- Avengers Tower- before anyone could attempt to stop me.

I drove well over the speed limit all the way home. As I pulled into the drive, I saw Peppers car. Shit, I didn't think she would be home. I almost put it in reverse and took off until I could figure out how to tell her, but then I saw her look at me from our kitchen window. I was caught.

I turned my car off and walked to the front door, as I flung it open, Pepper rounded the corner to greet me, but my legs knew I wasn't ready to face her. I took off for my office, practically running there, I slammed the door shut, locking it, and sunk into my chair, putting my face into my hands. I heard the knock on my door, and Peppers gentle voice, "Tony? Tony how did it go? I didn't expect you home so soon."I couldn't get my mouth to work, I would open it, but nothing would come out. I just stared at the door, the door where I knew my future- the one I had planned, the one I wanted, stood on the other side. "Tony, baby, please let me in." She begged.

When there was no reply, I heard her tell Jarvis to open the door. Jarvis was loyal to me, so of course he asked me before unlocking it, but I couldn't even manage to reply to him, so after several long minutes of Pepper begging him to open it, and Jarvis asking for my permission, he gave in on the assumption that I must need help. Pepper ran in, dropping down to her knees in front of me, "Tony, what's going on?" She asked as she took my hands in hers. I felt tears slide down my cheeks as I slid onto the floor in front of her, bowing my head. She took my face in her hands, raising my head, "Tony, talk to me." She whispered a desperate plea.

"Pepper… I really messed up." I manage to choke out.

"Tony, whatever it is, whatever happened, it will be okay. Does it have to do with your presentation, did something happen during it?" She clung to my words, searching in my eyes for answers.

"I barely even got started on it." I said as I sucked in a deep breath. "It doesn't have anything to do with work."

She stood up, taking my hands in her own, trying to pull me to my feet. I stood with her, and she took me to our bedroom, closing the door tightly. "Tony, whatever it is, please tell me." She said as she sat us both down on the bed.

I looked into those eyes, so full of worry and concern. I loved those eyes, I loved her. "Pepper… I don't know how to say this."

"Tony, we are a team, just come out and say it." She said as she squeezed my hands, "We will get through it."

"Pepper… Seventeen years ago I went to Brazil and I met a woman, I spent lots of time with this woman while I was there, we had a relationship, but when I came home we lost touch. We really lost touch shortly before I left, after a fight. I moved on, and I assumed she did the same. I just never heard from her again-" I started.

"Tony," Pepper interrupted, "If she has come into your life again, or if you are trying to apologize for being with another woman, just stop. If she is coming after you, making allegations or something, we will lawyer up, we will get through it honey, I know you only have eyes for me now."

"No, Pepper, Sophia Silva is dead. She died about 3 years ago from glanders while she and her daughter were coming to America. She started showing symptoms here, but it was too late, doctors weren't able to save her. Pepper, today, during my presentation, social services showed up with a young girl, she is Sophia's daughter, her name… Her name is Ruby, Ruby Stark, she is my daughter, Pepper."

Pepper's body went completely stiff as she stared into my eyes. "There has to be a mistake." She said, her voice barely coming out above a whisper.

"They tested it 3 times, and Pepper, I can see part of myself in her. In her face." I was begging for her forgiveness with my eyes.

She shot to feet, taking in sharp, shallow, breaths as she put one hand to her head, "I need to go." She said as she quickly made her way out of the bedroom.

"Pepper, wait!" I yelled after her, "We're a team… I'm sorry, Pepper, please don't go."

"Tony, I need to get out of this house. Do not follow me." She said as she grabbed her keys off the table, then out the front door she went. I was left, alone, staring at the door she had just ran out of.

"Sir" Jarvis charmed in, "Is there anyone I should call for you?"

"No, Jarvis. There is no one to call." I said, the words burning as they left my mouth.

This was it. The start of the end. My future, the future I loved, just shut the door in my face as she ran out of it. It felt like I had been stabbed in the chest, like every part of me had just shattered.


	4. Chapter 4

I had paced the room at least four times, turned on (and off) the TV at least six times, inspected every part of the room twice, and had even tried to take a nap before giving up and hugging my knees to my chest while I sat against the bed. I could feel the build up of anxiety bubbling in my gut, my lungs were finding it harder and harder to take on air, I focused on my breathing, trying to clear my head with no avail.

"I have some clothes for you." Natasha's voice rang from the doorway as she stepped in, "Just for tonight. Tomorrow I'll take you shopping for new clothes."

"You don't have to do that." I muttered so softly, still trying to get my lungs to take air, that I wasn't even sure if she could have heard me.

She looked around my room, studying the details, seeing if I had done anything besides sit in the exact spot I was in the whole time I had been left in there. "You need clothes," She said so matter-of-factly that it was like she was in this type of situation on a daily basis, but she was so gentle about it, picking every word and every tone in her voice very carefully. She met my eyes again, giving me a kind smile, "and unless you want one of the boys to take you, I'm your only option."

"I don't have to stay here. Tony doesn't have to be my dad, he can opt out, and I will leave." I said, pulling my eyes from her, focusing on some non existing spot on the wall.

"Tony just needs time to adjust." She said, keeping her voice light-hearted as she sat down lightly on the edge of the bed next to me. "This is a huge thing, a huge adjustment, he'll want to be your dad, Ruby. Just give him time."

"Whatever." I muttered, still not looking up to meet her gaze, "I didn't want to come here anyway."

"Why not?" She asked, I could feel the genuine curiosity in her voice.

"Because I didn't think anyone would believe me in the first place- it sounds crazy- and when he didn't come back for my mom despite being rich and famous, I figured it out that he wouldn't want anything to do with me. It's not like it takes a rocket scientist to figure that out."

"Ruby, Tony, your _father_ , never even knew you existed. If he had he would have come to find you." She, with such grace, slid down from the bed, kneeling in front of me, "I'm trying to be delicate because I know you are just a kid, and I know you are going through something right now, but you're just going to have to look past this."

I stared up at her, she meant what she was saying- she didn't see Tony as having any fault for any of this. "Can you just go." My voice was barely above a whisper as I turned away from her again.

She stood up, hesitated from a brief moment, as if there was something left she wanted to say to me- maybe wanting to yell at me, but she left without saying a word.

The room was silent, the only real sound was of my breathing. Tears burned my eyes, but I was determined not to cry anymore, I just couldn't handle it if I cried anymore, I wasn't prepared to snap, none of these people needed to see me that weak.

Clint brought me dinner some time later. I hadn't moved from that spot. "I brought you soup. I figured that with everything that's happened today, you probably needed something that would be gentle, easy, on your stomach." His words were full of care. I knew he must have a family, because he genuinely cared about my wellbeing.

"Thank you." I said, but for once in my life there was no hunger. I didn't even think I could take a single bite out of the soup. It felt like my stomach was full of rocks, and they were constantly grinding against one another.

"Yeah, of course. Listen, Thor will be sleeping right down the hall tonight, if you need anything just go to his room. Nobody has heard from Tony- your dad- and we can't get ahold of Pepper either, we're hoping he'll be back tomorrow." I could feel the tension in his voice, but I couldn't tell if it was a nervous tension because he was scared of my reaction, or an angry tension because he was angry with Tony's reaction. Both maybe?

The question that had been burning in the back of my head since this began burned my throat as if the words were doused in kerosene and set on fire as they spilled out, making me breathless "And if he doesn't come back?"

"We'll cross that bridge IF we get to it." He quickly said, not really an answer, more like a way to get me to shut up. I knew he could feel my hesitation with his answer, "I don't think it'll come to that, Ruby. He'll come back." He said as he gently put his hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, well, don't blame me if I don't believe you. Not like he has the best track record." I didn't look Clint in the eyes as I let the words pass my lips. I couldn't see another person's eyes as they tried to defend him.

"Ruby… He didn't know you existed. You have to see that. You have to see that he had no idea about you, and that is why this is a shock, that is why he never went back, he had no idea about you. You can't determine their track record when they didn't know, when they couldn't do anything to change their track record."

I didn't respond, I knew it would be a pointless argument. Completely pointless. "Clint, you guys really don't need to go to all of this trouble."

"Sure we do. Tony is our friend, and this is what friends do. We take care of eachother, we pick up the slack when they can't at the moment." Sounds about right, that's all I was seen as, slack that needed to be picked up.

I nodded my head, there would be no sense in arguing. "Thanks for the soup, Clint."

"Of course. Have a good night, Ruby. We will all be back first thing in the morning, and Thor is right down the hall.

I watched him leave, then I poured the soup he gave me into the sink. I watched as every last noodle went down the drain.


	5. Chapter 5

It was three in the morning when I heard the elevator ding, I immediately sat up- the elevator stopped when the others left. They said that there was no maid service tonight, I remember them telling Thor that. I tiptoed to the door, cracking it slightly.

"Mr. Stark!" I heard someone yell, it sounded so weak, like they were injured, definitely male. He didn't sound very old, a teenage boy. He cried out again, "Mr. Stark!" He was in anguish. I opened the door and stepped out into the hall, the cold floor on my bare feet sending shivers up my spine. I could see his figure shuffling up the hall, swaying back in forth. "Mr. Stark, is that you?" He gasped.

As my eyes adjusted I realized he was bleeding. "No, I'm not Tony Stark, are you okay?" I asked as I stepped closer, trying to get a good look.

He leaned heavily against the wall, his breathing labored. He was defensive. "Who are you?" He was doing his best to sound strong. I couldn't watch him like this, it was clear that he was badly injured.

I quickly walked to him, "My name is Ruby, let me help you." I spoke fast, because I knew he was going to object, but he fell forward, crashing into me, I looked into his eyes, they were a deep, comforting brown color. His skin was pale, glazed in sweat, and he was cold. I got him safely to the ground, examining him, his stomach had a large wound that blood flowed freely from, I quickly applied pressure to it, "You're going to be okay." I said as I took one of my now bloody hands up to his face, then promptly screamed, "Thor, I need help!"

"You have very strong lungs." The bloody person said.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name's Peter."

"Thor! Help!" I screamed again as Peter's blood pushed through my fingers, then I turned back to Peter, "Peter, don't close your eyes. Whatever you do, stay awake."

"Anything for you." He said, his voice so soft, so weak, but yet had plenty of sarcasm. His eyes rolled back into his head, but he managed to roll them back. I stared into those eyes as they glazed over more and more.

"Here, let me take him." Thor's voice said as he gently pushed me out of the way, and picked Peter up, "You're going to be alright, Peter." He said as he quickly carried him away.

I hadn't realized I had been crying until I brought my bloody hand to wipe them from my face, but quickly stopped myself. As I got to my feet I saw something laying on the floor by me, I gently picked it up, examining it. The mask of spiderman was ripped and covered in blood.

There was a blood trail leading down the hall that Thor had just carried Peter down, I followed it, and it lead to the infirmary.

"Why don't you take him to the hospital?" I asked as I quickly entered the infirmary, where Thor had laid Peter on the bed and several people in white coats surrounded him.

"Peter does not wish for his identity to be revealed to the world, which is understandable. Besides, these doctors are specialists on superhumans. They've seen some of the most gruesome wounds and have successfully healed them. They've even treated me, a god." Thor quickly told me, sensing my fear for his life.

"Tony only accepts the best, doesn't he?" I asked. The question wasn't angry, and I don't know that it was even really a question. I was more of pointing it out, getting to know him better without him being there.

"Your father understands when the best is needed, if they weren't the best, many of us would probably have died." His tone wasn't sharp, but just factual.

He was right. You need the best doctors for the worst injuries and illnesses. Had my mother had the best instead of the underpaid, overworked, med students- who knows, maybe she would still be here, and I would be with her, instead of in this mess. I pushed the thought out of my head quickly- before the tears came. "What happened to Peter?" I asked as I sucked in a large breath, I just needed the subject to be changed.

"I do not know. Your father, he is close to Peter, but he doesn't always share what Peter does." Thor said, choosing his words carefully, but being completely honest with what he said.

I looked at the bloody Spiderman mask that I still gripped tightly in my hands, "So, my father keeps secrets that could potentially get people killed." It definitely wasn't a question this time, it was what I could see clearly with my very own eyes.

"Your father keeps secrets that could potentially get people killed so the rest of your world- the rest of all the worlds in the whole galaxy- can live. Your father has no choice but to keep secrets." Thor turned to look at me, to stare into my soul through my eyes, "If you could have given your life, or your mothers life, to save billions of people, or the whole galaxy, the whole universe, are you saying you would not do it?"

"No, I would," I quickly said, "It would kill me to see my mother die again, but I would do it if it were her life I had to give up too."

"Thin you understand what your father feels everytime someone gets hurt because of a secret that has to be kept. It kills him, but he knows that he cannot die, because the world still depends upon him." Bruce's voice caught us both off guard, "One of the on calls sent us all word, I came us quickly as I could."

The blood, Peters blood, was drying to my clothes, to my skin. "Why don't you go take a shower, we will be here, for Peter." Thor said as he examined me as I moved stiffly due to the crusting and stiffening blood.

My eyes darted to where he lay, _what if something happened while I was gone? What if he died?_ The thought went through my head so fast I didn't even have time to brace myself for it. I told myself to stop being crazy, I didn't know this person, why was I acting so crazy? The answer hit me just as soon as the thought went through. That person came in, bleeding, dying, calling for my father. After going on a mission assigned by my father, kept a secret by my father. We had both been hurt by him, even if it were on different ends of the scale. We were both his secrets.

The thing was, the thing that got me the most, was that Peter admired him, while I was angry at him, maybe even hated him, yet I was the one who was his child.

I pulled my gaze from Peter, to his mask, and back to Thor and Bruce, "Yeah, I do really need a shower." I said.

"And sleep. You need sleep." Clint's voice caught me off guard again, and had me spinning on my heels to look at him. Natasha was also at his side. "You did a good thing, probably saved his life." Her voice was bland, monotone.

I nodded my head, then sucked in a sharp breath and gripped his mask even harder, "Yeah, I will do that, I guess." I walked passed them and quickly headed to my room. I hadn't realized Thor had followed me until his hand caught my door as I tried to close it, I slowly turned to face him, my mind racing as to why he would follow me.

"Do you want to be alone? You just held someone's blood into them long enough for help to arrive, in my experience I have noted many young women do not do so well with that."

Truth was, I was shaken. I didn't want to be alone. I was confused, and my mind hadn't stopped racing since I had gotten here. My stomach was in knots, I felt like I was constantly on the verge of an anxiety attack, even though I didn't know him, he was one of the few people here I felt like was honest with me, I didn't feel uncomfortable to be around him. Every part of me wanted to tell him I wanted him to stay, every part of me except for my mouth. "No, I'm really alright. Thank you, Thor."

He smiled at me gently, "I'll be down the hall in my own room."

I returned the smile as I watched him leave, closing the door behind him. Making me completely alone once again. I took the hottest shower I could hoping to make the knot in my stomach disappear, but after an hour of sitting, crying, and it not working, I realized my plan had failed. I wrapped myself in the white robe that was on the back of my bathroom door and wrapped my hair up in a white fluffy towel. I grabbed Peter's mask off the side of the sink, and went straight to the large bed. I laid on the bed, trying to fall asleep, but no matter how hard I tried, all I could think about was Peter.

I decided to act on it. I put on my old clothes and went back to the infirmary, his mask still tightly in my hands. Bruce, Natasha, and Clint were sprawled out in chairs in a small waiting room, all asleep. I walked to the room where I had last seen Peter, and the last of the doctors were clearing out when I stepped in. I took the chair closest to his bed. I was deciding on what questions I would ask him and which ones first when exhaustion began taking its hold on me. I pulled my feet up next to me, and got comfortable, tucking my hand that still clung to his mask next to me, where I wouldn't lose it. I decided I would stay right there, because no one should wake up alone in a hospital room after nearly dying.

A nudge on the shoulder and a gentle kick on the foot was what woke me. I forced my eyes open, the room was bright, it took them a few seconds to adjust, but as soon as they did, they sprung open and my feet hit the floor. "Uh hey kid, Ruby, can we talk?" Tony, my father, asked me as he shifted uncomfortably.


	6. Chapter 6

I stood up, still gripping the mask, now between both hands. "Yeah, we can talk." I managed to spit out, coming out uneven, nervous, breathless. I cleared my throat, finally looking away from his eyes, "Here?"

"No, I have an office up on the next floor. Let's talk there." His voice seemed sharp, but I did my best to let it roll off of me. He held out his hand, gesturing for me to leave. As I walked passed him, I couldn't help but notice the distinct smell of body odor and alcohol that radiated from him. I knew the smell all too well from my first set of foster parents. As I turned back to look at him as I walked out the door of Peter's room, I saw him staring at Peter, and I couldn't help but to wonder what he was thinking about.

He led me to his office without saying a word. His office was a corner office, It was glass on two sides- two HUGE sides. He stood in front of his chair on his side of his desk, just staring out the window, looking over the city. He turned back, looking at me briefly then clearing his throat. "Sit down, Ruby." His voice was rough, sharp. I flinched at it.

I was hesitant to sit, but I sucked in a deep breath and sat down in the big overstuffed office chair. I fidgeted with the mask as I waited for the conversation to start, but he was just staring out the window again. After several moments of silence, I managed to muster up a sliver of courage, and I ran with it. "Tony…" I said, ready to start the conversation, but hoping he would take the lead from me.

It was like I pulled him from his imaginary world, he turned back and looked at me, turning himself completely towards me, as if the window would be too big of a distraction. He came around the side of the desk, so we were both on the same sides. He had his butt on the top of his desk as he leaned against it, arms crossed. "Ruby… What is it that you want?" His voice wasn't as sharp, it was even, solid, like he was conducting business it was a true question.

"What do I want?" I couldn't stop my voice from shaking, the question caught me off guard, I wasn't sure what he meant- what he was looking for. "I don't… I mean I guess I just want the same things everyone wants. I'm mad… but I want a relationship. Or I think I do. I'm confused right now, but-"

"No, Ruby, what is it that you _want_ from me?" The sharpness was back, and I flinched at it again, anger flared in his voice. Suddenly, I understood the question, but Tony was more than happy to elaborate anyways, "Is it money? Do you want money?"

I was dumbfounded. I couldn't believe he had just asked me that question. There was a searing pain in my chest- I knew it all too well. I wasn't just a let down because I was trying to forgive him- trying to open up to him- I was furious. Pissed. I was speechless. I stared at him, and he waited for a reply while eyeing me closely. "I cannot believe that question- that- that _accusation_ \- just left your mouth!" Suddenly I was on my feet.

"You can't tell me that isn't why you are here, out of the blue, when you have had this knowledge for three _years_!" He shouted back, now standing straight up, hands flailing as he spoke.

"I don't want _anything_ from you! I didn't even want to come here!" I was screaming, I couldn't hold back the fury that was burning me up, I could feel the tears coming, but I wasn't about to let him see that.

"Bullshit! Then why did you come here?!" He screamed, his face red, a vein in his head bulging, "I sure didn't want you!"

It was like a punch in the gut. Now the tears came. "That was all I needed to know. I won't stay where I'm clearly not wanted." I pushed the chair out from behind me so I could slide passed him without touching him, but decided to answer his final question, "I came because my mother told me of your love. She said it was something truly special. She said I would be included in that when she finally came to you, when you two were finally together. I waited because I didn't think that anyone would ever believe me, I didn't think that there would ever be a way for me to contact you, but when they were talking about sending me to juvy, drilling me about why my mother had brought me here, it just came out. I figured if I said it, they would at least leave me alone because they thought I was crazy. When they did it, I was genuinely excited to meet you, I had done so much research on you. You were a hero, and you were _my dad._ You were amazing in my eyes, even if you had never come for me. Come for mom." Tears were streaming down my face as I sucked in a breath, "There was a part of me, a part of me that knew you would be like this, but I pushed it away, said it wasn't true at all, that you would be amazing, that there was a legitimate reason you never came back for her, some crazy reason that would make all the heartbreak, all the hardships somehow okay, but I was wrong to disregard that part. It is clear to me now. Crystal clear. But just know, you were wrong about me too." As I turned around, I realized we hadn't been completely alone. Clint stood in the doorway, and I met his eyes as I walked passed him, hitting his arm with my shoulder. He turned once I had hit the hall, grabbing in my arm gently, he looked at me like he wanted to say something to me, but then he just dropped my arm. I was glad he was standing there, I was glad he seen whatever he had, because he was the one who had defended him, he was part of the reason I had tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Part of the reason I had become vulnerable, just for him to stab me with his words.

As I got back into the elevator, tears still streaming down my face, I leaned against the wall and took in a huge breath, as I went to let it out, it came out a sob. I had been gripping Peter's mask so hard that my hand was cramping as I loosened my grip on it. When the elevator door opened on the same floor my room and infirmary was, I almost just hit the ground floor button, there was nothing of mine in that room, but then Peter crawled back into my mind. I was afraid to see one of them there, but decided it was worth the risk. I held his mask loosely as I went to his room, luck was on my side, because I didn't see a single Avenger. As I approached his room, I looked in, then stopped dead in my tracks, my breath catching in my lungs. He was awake. I was contemplating whether or not to go in when he looked up, I know he saw me. I ran as quickly as I could back to the elevator, slamming the ground floor and close door button as fast as I could.

I shoved his mask into my pocket before stepping foot out of the elevator. No one even tried to stop me as I walked out of the building, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the door as I left. My eyes were puffy, my hair was a mess, and the bags under my eyes were huge. I pushed my hair out of my face, running my fingers all the way through it, and walked from Stark Tower to the streets, where I made myself disappear into the crowds.


	7. Chapter 7

There were so many different thoughts that ran through my head. I stared at the door that Pepper had just walked out of, the door out of not just our house, but my life. It felt like my whole chest was caving in on itself. None of the thoughts that ran through my head were positive, and I couldn't concentrate long enough to make a decision.

So I started with a bottle of whiskey- or what was left of the bottle. I felt it dim some of the thoughts, it slowed down my racing mind to a manageable point. The thought of mixing a variety of the pills we- I - kept in the medicine cabinet with my drink(s) crossed my mind. What else was there left for me? She was everything that kept me together. She was my world. I got into the good whiskey- the thousands of dollars a bottle good whiskey.

It got me thinking, maybe it wasn't a "move on" situation, or a "how to get through life without her", but a how to get her back situation. It all seemed pretty clear to me at this point. The problem that drove her away was the kid, Ruby, so that was what would need to be "adjusted", but how was I supposed to fix this problem. She was definitely my child, there was no denying that, it had already been proven. However, I didn't know that I actually had to be her dad. I mean, biologically I always would be, but social services couldn't force me to keep her if her mother was dead, right? No, that's wrong. I shook my head at the thought. Who knows what kind of hell she had already been through with social services and foster care. I laid in that bed, I needed to man up. She was mine. But why now? After all this time?

My eyes were getting heavy as I continued to sip from the bottle and trying to solve my problem. Problems. They were something that would happen all the time, in a relationship or not. It wasn't like I wasn't honest with Pepper about kids, I didn't know I had one, and lord knows it isn't the kids fault. I don't understand why she wouldn't stand by me?

"Jarvis, call Pepper!" I yelled.

"Sir, Pepper requested that you not call her." Jarvis answered.

"Jarvis, just do it!"

The dialing began echoing through the house, it rang several times before going to voicemail. "Pepper," I started, then belched, "I don- I don't understand what is going on. You told me- YOU TOLD ME that we would be together no matter what. That we could get through anything, Pepper. We are a team. I didn't know… If I did I would have told you. I will fix it Pepper. I will fix this. I can't live my life without you. Please, come back." I ended the call, hoping she would call back within minutes, but had no such luck.

My eyelids had begun to grow heavy, and the world spun faster than my mind could process around me, it felt like being on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean during a storm. I went to move so I could stand, but the world in turn moved even faster. I decided that I should sit right where I was for a little bit longer, just until I regained my bearings, but my eyelids just continued to get heavier and heavier.

The next thing I knew I was opening my eyes to Rhodes kicking my foot and shaking me back to consciousness. "Tony, are ya in there?" He asked as he lightly smacked my face.

I shoved his hands away, "Yeah, I'm here," I grunted as I sat myself up a little more, the light shining into the room made it hard for my eyes to focus and gave me a pounding headache, "but why are you here?"

"There have been people trying to get ahold of you for hours. I called Pepper… What's going on, Tony?" He was my friend, I knew he cared, but I didn't want to discuss this with him.

"Why are people trying to get ahold of you? Who are the people?" I asked

"The infirmary was the first, then Bruce tried too, and I tried. It's Peter, Tony. He showed up at Stark Tower beaten, bloody, and looking for you. He almost died from blood loss."

My body went completely ridgid. "Is he okay?" I asked, then rubbed my eyes and stood up- if nothing else I needed to go and see him.

"They think he will be alright, but what about you Tony? What's going on? Its six in the morning, and you're still trashed."

"I'm not trashed!" I snapped, then sucked in a breath, ordering myself to calm down, "I messed everything up with Pepper."

"How? I can't believe that after all the stupid shit you pulled with her, you could do anyth-" He started

"Rhodes, I have a kid. A daughter." I said, the words feeling foreign coming from my mouth. "She's sixteen. I didn't… I didn't know about her. I didn't know Ruby even existed."

Rhodes leaned heavily on my kitchen table. "Who- when-" His face twisted in confusion.

"When I went to Brazil. After the accident, it was the first time I had went back since the accident. It was a hell of a trip, and I remember her mother, Sophia Silva, we did have a relationship, but it was destined for failure. She loved me, she was so in love with me, but I couldn't fully return it. I was just a young, dumb, kid. Well, I was an adult, but mentally… I don't know. It was so long ago. I thought about going back, I wrote her letters, but I never got any type of reply. We got in a fight before we left. Rhodes, she never told me she was pregnant. Never told me I had a daughter."

We sat in silent for a few moments as he processed it, and I got my thoughts back together. "Why's she here now?" He asked, and I snapped my eyes up to look at him, "Well, I mean, why after all these years would she be here now- her and her mother."

"Her mother brought her here, but she died of a disease three years ago." I said, "She's here because she needs a parent."

"Three years ago? That's a long time to keep a secret like that Tony. Especially when you have no one else. Are you sure she's not here… looking for something maybe?"

"What are you getting at Rhodes? She's a sixteen year old girl who has been in the system for three years, and lived in Brazil slowly starving for 13 years." I snapped, unsure of why I was being defensive.

"Whoa Tony, I'm just asking questions here. Something isn't adding up. Have you asked any questions?"

I hadn't. Not really. I was too shocked to ask any questions. "No…" I said as I rubbed my head.

"Why don't you get dressed, you need to get to Stark Tower for Peter, then we can take you to her so you can ask questions." Rhodes said. I looked down at myself, I reeked of alcohol and sweat.

"She's there still. At Stark Tower- at Avengers Tower." I said as I looked back up at him.

"Then I won't have to drive you anywhere else." He said with the slight shrug of the shoulders.

I changed clothes and threw on some deodorant and cologne and brushed my teeth and hair and then let him lead me to his car. "You probably could have used a shower. You look like hell and that cologne only helps so much." He said as I buckled my seatbelt. I rolled my eyes, but I knew he was right. I leaned back in my seat, just trying to clear the intense fog that filled my head, and hoping that it would help relieve the huge headache that pounded right behind my eyes.

The ride went way too fast. It only seemed like minutes and we were at the tower parking the car in the garage. I followed him into the Tower, keeping my sunglasses on to dim the fluorescent lights. He abruptly stopped at the door to Peter's room, "Who is that?" He asked as he pointed to the girl sleeping in the chair right next to Peter's bed.

I knew her instantly- how could I ever forget her face, her hair, her anything. "That's my daughter." I said, the words catching in my throat as they came out.

Rhodes raised a brow as he looked at her through the glass. "Well, then I guess this is all you." He said, and then left me standing there alone.

I don't know how long I stood there, just looking into his room. Peter's face was pale except for right under his eyes where bags had formed under his left eye in deep purple and black colors, and his right eye was so swollen I doubted he could even open it, and it was full of black and blue colors. He had a cracked lip, a bruised had formed there too, and as I examined him further it looked like he had bruises on his neck too. One of his arms had a cast on it, and I could see where a doctor had upturned the sheets near his abdomen on the left side, I could only image the injury that was there. I finally sucked in a deep breath and walked in the room. I gently shook her and kicked her foot trying to wake her up. As soon as her eyes opened a look of fear mixed with shock filled her face. "Hey, kid, Ruby, can we talk?" I was trying to keep my voice from being sharp, from showing any anger.

"Yeah, we can talk." She spit out, she was terrified and she was not good at hiding it.

That's when my first bit of concern for her hit me, and it hit me hard. If she was my child, that meant she was my weakness, and she did not have a good poker face, if she was ever compromised, she very well may have no chance at survival because of that. You can't panic in high stress situation where you need to have a clear head so you can save yourself if help isn't coming or isn't coming quick enough. It knocked the air out of me for a second. I pushed it away as she continued to talk. "Here?" She asked.

"No, I have an office up on the next floor. Let's talk there." This time my voice was sharp, but it was unintentional, the fear that had just struck me still lingered.

I took her up to my office, sitting her down as I stared out the window, trying to figure out what exactly to say. I lost myself while I was looking out that window. My thoughts slipped somewhere else, they switched to my job, to Pepper, to just about anything but her. Her voice, once again, brought me back to reality.

During our conversation I watched her movements, I watched how she talked with her hands, I watched her face of confusion, of vulnerability, and I saw her face of anger, of hurt. When she stormed from the office, I realized we had not been alone. Clint stood there, his eyes angry, stern.

"I cannot believe the things you just said to her, Tony." His voice was barely audible. "She is a sixteen year old little girl!" He screamed as he slammed my office door. "She's _your_ sixteen year old little girl! Think about what she must have been through Tony, not just in Brazil, but right here, under your own nose in the states. She was about ready to be sent to juvy just because they didn't have room and patience!"

"You don't think I know that?! You don't think that that has been the only damn thing I have been able to think about for the last 16 hours! I know she is my child, Clint!" I yelled back as I slammed on my desk.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Tony? She doesn't want _money_ from you! She wants love, understanding, protection, guidance, the same thing all kids want. She needs those things Tony. That's why she is here. Not money, not fame, she's here for you to be her dad." He snapped, I could feel the anger radiating from him.

"How am I supposed to give her any of that, Clint! Look at me, look at my track record! How am I supposed to give her any sort of protection or guidance or any of that!" I was burning out, I was lost and confused with what I should be doing. I didn't want him here in my office, screaming at me.

"Figure it out, Tony! You are the adult, you are the dad here!" He screamed again, his face was as red as a tomato.

"Clint, get out of my office. I don't need you screaming at me, lecturing me." I said and turned away from him.

I heard him start to leave, I heard him open the door, but then he stopped. "All those bad people we fight, Tony, they weren't born bad. They didn't just wake up one day having those outlooks on life. It all started somewhere, with something. It's things like this, fights like you just had, a little girl meeting her dad, her hero after her mom told her of their love, of his big heart, just to have him cast her away, tell her he doesn't want her and doesn't even remember her mom. If you don't go and fix things, don't be surprised when one day we get a call about someone endangering lives, and when we show up she's the bad guy." He never turned around to face me. In his eyes I wasn't even worth looking in the eyes now, and I found myself feeling the same way about myself.


	8. Chapter 8

**I just wanted to give fair warning/trigger warning for anyone who may be set off by violence/abuse/ assault/etc. I want everyone to be able to enjoy my writings, and I try to keep it to a minimum and not graphic, but I understand what it is like to be set off by even small pieces of writing after going through a traumatic event, and I want to be mindful that others are too, and it is totally okay. Starting at "My mind was racing too fast-" and just that whole paragraph. Thank you all so much for reading! I love reading your reviews and your support!**

I walked from the Tower to the girls home, it took almost the whole day, I only stopped at public restrooms and to steal a water bottle and candy bar from a broken vending machine. The water was warm and the candy bar half melted, but at least it was something. I stared up at the front doors to the girls home, I wasn't sure what there was to say, I knew I wouldn't really be welcomed there, if I said that Tony had decided he wanted nothing to do with me, they would just send me to juvy. The more I stared at the big, brick, gloomy building the more courage I lost. I was finally free, why would I just turn myself back in? Where else would I go, though?

I couldn't do it. I didn't want to be sent away and really have my freedom taken away. I sucked in a breath and went to turn to blend back in with a crowd, when someone calling my name stopped me in my tracks. "Ruby! Hey, Ruby!" Her voice was high pitched, but it was rough.

I turned to see Twyla, her blonde curly hair normally bobbing all around her seemed flat, dirty. Her makeup, normally subtle, beautiful, was thick. Her clothes, torn and tattered. Two men followed closely behind her. "Twyla?"

She gave me a grin before wrinkling her nose, "Just call me T." She said, "What are you doing here? I heard you found a family, or your family or something. No one could get real specific, except for that ugly old Hartworth almost hauled you off to jail."

She used to be my best friend, we were bunk mates in the home, but she had run away with someone. Some boy she was head over heels for. They reported her missing, but there was never any real effort put into it when a foster teen ran away. "Yeah, it went kinda like that. Where have you been?"

She shrugged her shoulders and looked away. "I've just… been around." She said, choosing her words wisely. The men behind her shifting. "T, we should go." One of them said.

I looked her in the eyes. She seemed slightly uncomfortable. "We should really catch up, Tw- T." I grabbed her hand quickly, "I really missed you. I still miss you. We have so much we need to talk about."

She smiled her big smile and wrapped me in a hug. I couldn't help but notice the smell that radiated from her. As she let me go I looked down her arms and hands, and couldn't help but to notice the deep track marks in her arms. I almost said something, but she spoke first, "I can't wait to catch up with you." She smiled her big smile again, and then let me go.

As they began to walk away one of the men she was with stared at me for an extra second before walking with them, making me extremely uncomfortable. I wanted to yell after her, take her somewhere where she could get help, tell her I never wanted her to leave my side again, and that what she was doing was dangerous, but I feared of what the two men would do to her if she did decide to go with me. They looked at her like she was some piece of property.

I looked at the sun starting to set low in the sky, and my stomach growled from hunger. A feeling that wasn't foreign to me, but still sucked. I stepped into the waning crowd and followed it to a nearby park. By the time I got there the sun was gone, and the bright pastel colors were quickly fading. I was grateful it was summer, so although the night would be chilly, it wouldn't be freezing. I laid down on a park bench, the last time I had slept on one it **was** freezing, and I truly thought I was going to freeze to death. I pushed the memory of my previous foster families out of my head as I rolled onto my side. I looked up at the sky, the night had settled in, I could make out the moon, but the light pollution from the city made it impossible to see the stars. I wrapped my arms around myself as the chilly air nipped at my bare skin.

After some time exhaustion began to consume me and I managed to shut my eyes and fall asleep, but I suddenly felt watched. My eyes shot open, and I sat up and looked around, but I couldn't seem to find anyone who may be watching me. I took in a deep breath, "You're paranoid, Ruby." I muttered to myself as I rubbed my head and leaned back.

The bushes behind me rustled, and I jumped straight to my feet, spinning around. There, creeping in the darkness, lurked the man who had stared at me extra long while I was talking to Twyla. "Took me a while to find you." He said, his voice dark. His words slurred slightly as he talked.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, forcing my voice not to shake. "Why come and find me?"

"You don't have anywhere to go." He said, avoiding my question and stepping forward.

I stepped back in response to his stepping forward. "I have my family. My father." I said- I lied.

"No you don't, or you would be sleeping there, in your bed. Not on a park bench." The way his voice slid out, I knew I was in danger.

"We got into a fight, but I'm sure he's looking for me by now." Wishful thinking at best, there was no way he would come looking for me. "I wanted him to come looking for me, put him through hell like I've been through."

"You're lying." He called my bluff quickly, then took several more steps towards me.

I ran. He was bigger than me, and I was far from stupid. I clenched the mask in my pocket and ran as fast as I could out of the park, but he was fast too, and he was following me. I tried to lose him, I ran down back allies I knew let out and tried to shake him, but he stayed on me. There was no one around to scream at, to yell for help to, everyone who walked these streets now would be more likely to help him catch me.

My mind was racing too fast- I took a wrong turn that led me to a dead end. I turned to face him, trying to decide how to get back passed him because I knew I could never win a fight with him. As he stepped closer to me, every step a threat, like a predator sizing up his prey just before it attacked, I tried to get a grip on my brain. There was a metal trash can to my right, I grabbed it, pushing it towards him, as it knocked into him I went to run passed him, but he was faster, stronger. He grabbed me, his arm at my abdomen, shoving me over the trash can and my head slamming into the ground. The world spun as I scrambled to get to my feet. He raised his hand again, striking me in the side of my temple and I fell back onto the dirty alley floor. The world spun so fast, blood leaked onto the alley by my hands where I tried to push myself up. I touched my face, my nose was bleeding. I couldn't seem to get my eyes to focus. His foot against my ribs robbed the air from my lungs and sent pain shooting through me. I felt his hand on the back of my neck as he shoved me to the ground, flat. I managed to get myself rolled onto my back to try and fight him better, but he quickly and easily pinned me down after ramming his elbow into my face. Tears streaked my face along with blood.

"Doesn't look like daddy's here to save you." He said as his grip on my arms tightened. I struggled against him again- despite having little strength left I managed to fling him off me and halfway across the alley. As I focused my eyes I realized it hadn't been me.

"Tony, enough! Ruby!" Thor's voice was demanding as he approached. Tony had the man pinned to the wall, it looked like he was choking the life out of him. Thor gently took his shoulder, "I promise I will take care of him." His voice was quiet, but I still heard.

Tony cracked his head against the wall for good measure before letting Thor take over, then he was immediately at my side. I could barely focus my vision as the world spun all around us. "Easy Ruby, you're alright." He whispered as his mask folded in on itself revealing his face.

"You came for me." I choked out.

"I'm so sorry, Ruby." He said as he gently stroked the side of my face with his thumb.

"Tony, get her back to the Tower." Clints voice was sharp.

Tony picked me up gently in his arms, and I let myself relax into his arms. My body ached and was exhausted, and I no longer wished to fight. I felt us go into the air, so I decided it would be best to just shut my eyes so I didn't have a heart attack mid air. I slid my hand in my pocket, ensuring the mask was still there, still safely tucked into my pocket.

Once we landed at the Tower he took me straight to the infirmary where the doctors immediately took over, shoving him from the room despite my desperate pleas, not that it really mattered, because the pain that consumed my body combined with the sheer exhaustion that had been haunting me, had me falling into a black abyss mere minutes after he was gone from my line of sight.


	9. Chapter 9

I was back in that alleyway. My back was against the cold, hard, brick wall. I looked all over, desperately looking for a way out. This time there was no one here to save me. He came at me, and I screamed and sat straight up in bed. Pain shot through me and Tony sprung from a nearby chair and had his hands on my shoulders trying to hold me together instantly..

"Easy Ruby, easy." He cooed.

Doctors came running in, one doctor grabbing my arm, trying to stick me with a syringe as I tried to get them all to let go of me, flailing my arms. "Mr. Stark, you should leave." One of them said as they pulled him away from me. Our eyes met and I stopped struggling for a brief second, too long of a second. The doctor shoved the syringe into my arm, and it wasn't but a few moments and my head began to spin and I couldn't seem to keep myself sitting up. They pushed me back into the bed. My body screamed in agony as my eyes closed again, sending me into a cold darkness.

I don't know how long I had been there, it felt like a timeless place. Like a lifetime and only a second al at the same time. I pried my eyes open and stared at the white ceiling. After a few moments, I sat up. This time the pain wasn't as bad, it still made my breath catch in my throat, but this time I didn't instantly scream. As my eyes adjusted I looked over at the chair, no sign of Tony. Movement in the doorway caught my eyes, I quickly focused in, and there, in the doorway, sat Peter in a wheelchair. I sucked in a breath as our eyes met. I grabbed for my pocket only to find I was in a hospital gown, my clothes were gone. I stared at him for a few moments longer, trying to find words.

"Hi" I said, my voice breathless.

He blinked at me a few times, just staring in, "Your dad, Tony, he uh, they told him to leave. He went to his office, just to get some sleep or something."

I nodded my head, unsure of what to really answer. "My name's Ruby." I blurted. "We uh- we met the other night, but I don't think I told you my name." I said.

"There was a lot going on the other night." He said, "That's actually why I came over here. To thank you for saving my life."

He grabbed his wheels to his wheelchair as if he was going to leave. "I have your mask." I blurted out again. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._ He stopped, meeting my eyes again.

"They gave it back to me last night. They uh, cut your clothes off to help you last night. They did the same to me." He said.

"Oh, good, I'm glad you got it back." I quickly replied.

He grabbed his chair again and started to leave, then quickly turned back, "Hey, did you come to my room yesterday, early in the morning?"

My face got red and hot. I felt beads of sweat line my forehead. "Um… Yeah. I… I was with you almost that whole night. Tony came and got me and I was coming back from him, that's when you saw me and I ran."

"Why'd you stay?" He asked.

"I didn't want you to be alone when you woke up. No one should wake up alone in the hospital." I said, "Not that that really prevented it."

His lips twitched upwards as he looked down at his lap. "I'll see you later." He said, then grabbed his wheels and wheeled away.

I almost yelled for him to stay, but I didn't, I closed my mouth as soon as I opened it. I couldn't call after him, what did I have to say? Before I could even get my thoughts in order, a female doctor walked in. "You're awake." She stated as she walked straight to my IV bag.

"Yeah, I'm awake." I said, trying to hide the annoyance of her stating the obvious in my voice. "Can I go?"

She laughed a little, then met my eyes, "No, you can't go. Actually, you're going to be taken in for a CT scan on your brain. They'll just take some pictures."

"And then I can leave?" I asked.

She sighed as she met my eyes, not at all hiding her annoyance. "No. You have a concussion, which is why we are going to do a CT scan, and maybe an EGG. After that, we will take a look at the results, decide if we need to intervene, and we will also get an xray of your ribs and decide what you're best plan for healing those are. We reset your nose last night, so don't be surprised if you have some stiffness. You do have swelling and bruising still but it should go away on its own over the next week or so, but if you have any draining, please let us know."

I rolled my eyes. I just wanted to go. "Alright." I mumbled.

"If you'd like, we can call your father, you can see him before we do the procedures." She said.

"Did he ask you to call him?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

She looked me directly into my eyes, searching for the answer I wanted. "No, we just sent him home for the night, there was nothing for him to do here, and he was exhausted. You were going to be out for the rest of the night at the very least."

"Then don't call him." I said quickly, then tried to shrug it off, "If he was exhausted then, he needs to sleep. I'm sure he'll come back when he wakes up." I wasn't going to force the relationship. I refused to.

She nodded and then got me ready for the tests. They didn't take very long, not like a normal hospital. The CT scan and xray were done and I was back in my room within the hour. Tony hadn't called, and he wasn't there. No one was. I laid there for a few minutes then decided that enough was enough. I slowly made my way out of the bed, pushing through the pain that shot through my body. Although it had dulled, it was still very present. I ripped the IV out of my arm, and I wrapped the sheet from the bed around me, every movement I made tried to bring me to my knees in pain, but I breathed through it. I walked across the cold tile floor out into the hallway after making sure that the ghost was clear.

I had just touched the door knob to my bedroom door when Tonys voice made me jump. "What exactly are you doing?"

I turned to face him, his one brow was raised as leaded his shoulder against the wall, arms crossed waiting for an answer. "I couldn't stay there. I let them run their tests, but I just had to leave."

"Do you know what could happen if you fall asleep alone with a concussion?" Tony asked.

"You can die." I quickly answered, "But I really feel okay."

"Yeah, that's what people usually say before they die." He said as he pushed himself off the wall. "I'll walk you back." He gestured for me to follow him.

"Why did you come for me?" The words just fell out of my mouth.

He looked up at me, and he dropped his arms. He sucked in a deep breath as he rubbed his forehead. "I'm trying. I'm trying here, Ruby. I didn't even know that you existed until three days ago. No clue about you. I needed time to adjust, I still need to, but I am your father. I am doing my best to step up here, and part of that is making sure you don't, like, die."

"You don't have to." I said, the words coming out breathless, barely above a whisper.

He came close to me, gently touching my cheek, and then my shoulder, "I want to, Ruby." He said, "Now, come on, we need to go back to the infirmary."

Tony walked me back down to the infirmary, not saying a word the whole way, but looking over at me every time I took a step that sent pain shooting through my body to make sure I was okay. He helped me get settled back into bed, my mind began to go foggy, exhaustion was settling back in when a couple of doctors walked in.

"Good, Mr. Stark, you're here. We need to talk about Ruby's results. Why don't we go to the conference room." One of the doctors, a tall doctor with jet black hair and tanned skin, said.

"I wanna hear too." I quickly said as I tried to push myself forward, but the other doctor caught my arm.

"No, Ruby, you need to rest." The first doctor said as the other doctor stuck a syringe in my arm.

I saw Tony lunge towards me, but I couldn't keep my eyes open.


	10. Chapter 10

I sat in my office for hours, trying to clear my head. No one came into my office, no one called me. I felt somewhat abandoned, like everyone was suddenly on her side, and I had no one in my corner. I had been friends with my team for years, yet here they were, turning away from me.

Then it hit me: it wasn't me vs Ruby, it was us against a problem. Although, the problem was her. Or the fact she was just suddenly sprung onto me, not her. None of this was her fault. I just needed to keep reminding myself that. She was innocent in all of this, there was nothing she could do, or could have done to have prevented this.

Suddenly, my phone rang, bringing me out of my thoughts. Pepper's number lit up my screen. I answered it as quickly as I could, "Pepper" my voice was breathless.

"Tony," Her voice was equally as breathless, and hers also shook, like she hadn't planned on me actually picking up, "I heard about Peter." She quickly said.

Guilt suddenly hit me again. I hadn't even went back down to check on him. "Yeah, he's pretty roughed up. He'll pull through though." I said, then silence filled the line

"How'd this happen, Tony?"

"I don't know, he hasn't been conscious to tell me." I quickly said

"No, Tony, I mean Ruby. How did this whole situation happen." She said.

"Pepper, I don't know how it happened. Well, I do, we had sex, but I don't know why she never reached out. I tried reaching out to her, I did, but she never got back to me. She never told me about Ruby. I just assumed the relationship was over, done with, I didn't know I had a daughter. However, the bottom line is I do, and she's still just a kid, and I AM her father. I have to take care of her."

I heard her crying on the other end, and I wanted to console her so bad, but I remained strong, waiting for her to anwer. "Tony, I want to make this work. I don't want to lose you."

Relief washed over me. "I do too, but you have to accept her. She isn't just going to go away."

"I know Tony. Please, just give me some time." Pepper said.

"Why don't you come home Pepper. I'll stay here for a few days, but you should be home." I said.

Silence filled the line again, this time longer than the last. "Okay." She finally agreed.

"Listen, I have to go, I will call you later, you call me if you need anything." I said.

She agreed and we said our goodbyes, and hung up the phone.

I figured Ruby would have went back to her room, I knew she was pissed but no one would have let her leave. I needed to get my thoughts in order before going to confront her and ultimately apologize profusely to her. I went to the infirmary first.

Peter was awake and sitting up when I walked in, he was all beat to hell. "Kid…" I said as I looked over him. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Mr. Stark… Who ever it is you had me watching, they're scary dangerous. They're into more than just drugs, its weapons and more too. I tried to stop them, but they got the drop on me. There's a lot of them. Mr. Stark, I failed. I more than failed, they know now. They know that we are watching them." He quickly said in a panic.

"Easy, kid. It's alright. They should know, because we are going to go after them, we are going to stop them. I shouldn't have sent you alone. I'm sorry kid." I said as I sat on the edge of his bed.

"You don't have to act like I didn't screw up." He said.

"Peter, trust me, after these last few days, I am the king of screw ups. I would know if you screwed up, and you didn't. Okay?" I said, trying to comfort him.

He nodded his head, then, with a confused look across his face, met my eyes. "Hey, did we get another Avenger?" He asked.

I furrowed my brows, "No? Why?"

"Last night, when I came here, I was really hurt, and there was a girl, she saved me. And I know she was really there, because I saw her walking through the infirmary, but when she saw me, she ran." He said.

"What'd she look like?" I quickly asked, already knowing who it was he was talking about.

"She was probably my aged, had the most beautiful skin and eyes I have ever seen, her voice was like an angel sent straight from heaven, she looked like a Goddess." He said.

I raised my brow at him, "Well, I don't exactly know who you are describing because those were all opinions, and lovely opinions at that, but I know for a fact that it was my daughter that I didn't know existed until yesterday who saved your life so I would assume you mean her."

"Your daughter…" He said, kind of a question, kind of a statement.

"Yeah, my daughter." I quickly said and gave him a smile.

"Oh." His voice was several octaves higher, "Listen, sir-"

"We'll talk about this later kid. Right now, I need to go check up on my daughter, and you need rest." I said and got up, not giving him another chance to speak.

I made my way to her room, putting the final words on my apology I would recite to her. I knocked on her door- nothing. So I knocked again, "Ruby… Ruby it's me, please let me in." I said. Nothing. I guess I should have expected that. I let myself in, but the room was empty. It didn't look like she had even come back here. I quickly shut the door and went to find the others, they all sat around a table in our main conference room- the same one I had gotten the news in. As soon as I entered the talking ceased, and all eyes were on me. "Where's Ruby?" I asked before anyone could say anything.

"We haven't seen her, I figured she went back to her room." Clint said.

"Yeah, she's not there." I quickly said, then turned to leave, them all following quickly behind me.

"What do you mean she's not there?" Clint asked, "Where did she go?"

"I'm obviously trying to figure that out." I said. If she had left, it had been hours, who knows where she would be.

I went to the security room and followed her from my office, to the infirmary, tears streaking her face, back to the elevator, and straight out the door. "We have to find her." I said as I practically ran from the room.

"We'll split up, look all over the city." Bruce said.

"Wait," Natasha said, "Maybe we should just let her have some time."

I stopped, and quickly turned to her. "She is 16. She can't just wander around the city alone." I snapped at her.

"Tony, I'm just saying, she thinks she can take care of herself and she probably can. She will come back, or turn up." Natasha said.

"No she won't." Clint interjected, "Not after everything you said to her Tony."

"What did you say to little Ruby, Tony?" Thor asked.

"Terrible things, Thor. That's why we need to find her." I said.

"We can't just use all of our resources on finding her." Natasha said.

"Fine." I snapped as I turned around, "You stay with anyone else who feels the same way."

Thor, Clint, and Bruce followed me closely. "I'm going to see if I can sweep the streets and try to find her Tony, Hulk won't do much good." Bruce said.

"Thanks big guy." I said, knowing he was right.

We decided to drive around first. Maybe we would find her before nightfall, and it would be safer for all involved. However, when we tried the girls home, and when we tried a few other hang out spots and day began to fall into night, I knew we needed to suit up. So that's what we did. We searched until the early hours of the morning, following the leads Bruce threw at us from spotting her on street cameras. We were about to give up, it was the early hours of the morning and we were all exhausted when Bruce radioed in for the first time in hours. "Tony, she's on the west side of the park, she's being chased towards the riverside warehouse buildings."

We went there as fast as we could, but we were one step behind her and Bruce had lost her. I heard the sound of a trash can, one of the old metal ones, being thrown, and I trusted my gut and flew to it.

She was pinned on the ground by a huge guy, the same guy she was seen with earlier, her friend was with, the guy who had been chasing her. I slammed into him and slammed him into the wall. "Please, I'm sorry, let me go." He cried as I cut off his air supply.

"Tony, let him go. Ruby needs you. I'll take care of him." Thor said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I slammed the guys head into the wall again before letting Thor take over. Ruby laid on the ground, her face already bruising, her nose bleeding, and she had her arm wrapped around her ribs, her face twisted in agony

"Easy Ruby, you're okay." I said, fighting tears as my mask revealed my face.

"You came for me." She said as she coughed.

"I'm so sorry, Ruby." I said.

Clints voice caught me off guard, "Tony, get her to the Tower." He barked.

I gently picked her up, just letting her relax in my arms. She let her body loosen up, she wasn't stiff anywhere, at one point as I flew us home I thought she might be asleep, but I looked down to see her eyes cracked open. Mostly she kept them close. She felt so helpless, so defenseless in my arms. She was hurt, and it was my job to protect her, I had failed. She felt broken.

I took her straight to the infirmary, doctors already awaiting her arrival. I laid her on the bed, and they all crowded around her. "Mr. Stark, you should go." One said as she pushed me out the door. I listened, not wanting to be in the way. I walked to the waiting room, where the team sat. "They told me to go." I said.

"Tony, she needs you." Thor said.

He was right, I nodded and quickly ran back to the room. When I got there they still all surrounded her, but she wasn't awake. They stuck needles in her left and right, and were putting a breathing mask on her. "Mr. Stark, please." The same doctor said.

"That's my daughter. I will stay out of the way, but I need to be in here." I said.

"Let him stay." The lead doctor, Dr. Anderson, said. "Besides, right now we need to get a CT scan on her, see how extensive her head injuries are. She's got a few good contusions, one on the back of her head and one on the side. It looks like the back is from a fall, while the side is from blunt force if I had to guess, probably a fist. She also has a broken nose, while they get the machine up, lets get that set. If she is still stable, next is an xray on those ribs."

Every word he said made me cringe. She was hurt badly. They let me stay in the room as they took her down the hall for the tests. I sat, it felt like hours before they brought her back, but in reality, it was probably only 30 minutes. One doctor stayed while the others went to look at the results, Bruce was with them. It only took about 15 minutes and Dr. Anderson, and Bruce came back in. Dr. Anderson put the x rays up on the illuminator.

"Mr. Stark, Ruby has suffered from a fractured rib and one has a clean break. She also has some bruised spots too." He said as he pointed to them, "However, none of the breaks are towards the lungs, so that is very good. We will treat them, and they should heal just fine. From the shape and nature of the bruising I would say that what did this was the man's boots- probably steel toes. She had a broken nose, and we have reset it."

"Tony, the real concern is the head injuries." Bruce interjected.

"Yes, the head injuries. The good news is that we can't find any place that's bleeding." He said as he showed me a picture of her brain, "However, do you see this abnormal spot here on the left cerebral hemisphere across the frontal and temporal lobes, that is definitely swelling. We are going to keep a very close eyes, but it does cross the hippocampus, which-"

"Which is responsible for the memory portion of the brain, I know." I said as I rubbed my face.

"Right, and that is where the majority of the swelling is." He said, "But, there is no bruising, which is a good sign."

"Will she be alright?" I asked.  
"I think so. We are going to do everything in my power to ensure it."

I stayed with her throughout the night, and she only woke up once. She was drenched in sweat, screaming and flailing. I gently held her, trying to tell her it was alright. Doctors ran in and sedated her. They laid her back down after ensuring nothing was ripped out. I sat on her bed, gently stroking her hair and face. Tears streaked my cheeks as I looked at her broken body, and thought of the worst.

"Tony, are you okay?" Clint asked, "We heard her screaming, the doctors told us."

"Yeah, I'm okay, Clint. You guys should all go, go get some sleep." I said, not turning to look at him.

I heard him step closer, and then he placed his hand on my shoulder. "Tony, she will be okay. We will all be here to help her."

I just nodded my head, I couldn't get any words out. I heard him leave and I hung my head, sobs escaping my lips. "Tony?" Peppers voice caught me off guard. I turned around slowly, wondering if I was just hearing things. She ran to me, wrapping me in her arms. "Nick called, he told me what happened. Is she okay?" She asked as I sobbed into her shoulder.

"She has swelling in her brain across the frontal and temporal lobes. On the hippocampus. They are concerned with it. She also has two broken ribs, a couple fractured ones." I said, my throat hoarse, "She just woke up, screaming and flailing, begging for him to get off of her. Begging for help." I said.

"Tony, she will be alright." Pepper said as she rubbed my head.

"I really screwed up. It was my job to protect her Pepper, and I failed." I said.

"Tony, she will be okay."

We got comfortable in the chairs by her bed, and after a while the constant rhythm and beeps of the machines put us to sleep. Several hours later, a doctor cam in, gently shaking us awake. "There's nothing you guys can do here. You should really get some rest."

Pepper looked up at me, exhaustion filled her eyes. "You should go home Pepper. I'm gonna go up to my office." I said.

She hesitated, then nodded. I kissed her on the forehead goodbye, and then put her in the elevator so she could go home, and I went to my office.

I fell asleep, and woke up some time later. I went to go to Ruby's room, to get her some fresh clothes for when she woke up, and found her trying to enter her room. "What exactly are you doing?" I asked, trying to not be extremely angry.

We had a lengthy discussion about why she should be in the infirmary, the dangers of not being there, and I finally got to give her my apologies. I told her that she had to understand I had no idea that she existed, that I needed to adjust. Most importantly, I told her I wanted her. She understood, and although she wouldn't let it show, she seemed grateful. I took her back to the infirmary where I got her settled into her bed, she was still so sore. I had just got her comfortable when Dr. Anderson came in.

"Good, Mr. Stark, you're here. We need to talk about Ruby's results. Why don't we go to the conference room." He said.

"I wanna hear too."Ruby said as she tried to push herself forward, a look of pain flashing across her face, and then the other doctor caught her arm.

"No, Ruby, you need to rest." Dr. Anderson said as the other doctor pushed a syringe into her arm.

I lunged at her, "Hey, what the hell!" I yelled, but Ruby's eyes were already shut.

"Mr. Stark, listen-" Dr. Anderson started, but I was quick to stop him.

"No, you listen!" I yelled, "That is my daughter, you cannot just treat her like that. You can't just do that!"

"Tony," Bruce's voice stopped me. "We really need to talk."

I followed them to the conference room, where they sat me down and sat down across from me. "Is it bad?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"Well, Tony, the thing is, she still has the swelling, but after a second look it doesn't look so much like swelling, and the way she is up and walking around, talking, I don't think it's that. A concussion, yes. Swelling…. I don't know."

"Are you saying it's a tumor, Bruce?" I asked.

They looked at eachother. "Maybe, but I don't think so." Dr. Anderson said. "It seems like… Something else. I know you know of mutants, sir, and her eyes make me think maybe she has a mutant gene outside of just her eyes, so strong it goes to her eyes when it's not a physical appearance type of mutation."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked.

"Tony…" Bruce started trying to find the words, "Maybe there is a reason just outside of her needing a father, her needing your help, that Sophia brought Ruby here. Maybe it wasn't just on a whim or because they were starving. Maybe she needed help in different ways."

"Mr. Stark, if you just let us run some tests-" Dr. Anderson started.

"No, no. You aren't running any tests. I am taking her home, you are done." I said as I stood up, "My daughter is a normal kid. She's not some mutant. Not a witch. Leave her alone, she has been through enough." I said, and then walked out.

I went back to her room and waited for her to wake up. I had let her down once, I hadn't protected her, and I was never going to make that mistake again.


	11. Chapter 11

I went back to her room, shutting the door to have some privacy while I waited for her to wake up. I called Pepper. "Tony" She answered on the first ring, "how's Ruby?"

"Pepper, I need you to get in one of the luxuries, one with big back seats, grab a few blankets and a good pillow, and I need you to get to the Tower. Park in the back. Come as quickly as you can, please." I said.

"Tony, what's going on?" She asked.

"I just need to get Ruby home." I said.

"Alright, I'll be there soon." She said, and hung up. I knew she could hear the urgency in my voice, and would really be here soon.

Next was to get Ruby awake. I knew that they had sedated her, but I wanted her out of here now. I gently tried to wake her up, and after several minutes her eyes forced themselves open. "Hey, there you are." I said as I started to try and get her up.

"Tony, what's going on?" she asked, her eyes rolling back in her head. She gripped her head with her hands, "My head's killing me."

"I know, we are gonna get you out of here and get you something for your head." I said as I wrapped her blanket around her and tried to get her to her feet, but she didn't have the strength, and just fell back.

"I can't.. I can't walk." She said.

"It's alright, Ruby. I'll carry you." I said.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter's voice rang as I was about to pick her up. I turned around, Peter sat in his wheelchair staring at me, wide eyed. I gently laid Ruby back. "I was just coming to see how she was, I swear." He said.

"Peter, I need to use your chair." I said. I knew getting her to the car by carrying her would not only be a task, but probably would be uncomfortable for her as well, and with as much pain as she was in, I didn't want her to be anymore uncomfortable then she had to be.

"Yeah, sure, of course Mr. Stark" he said as he wheeled his way the rest of the way in. He could stand and even walk, the wheelchair was just a precaution when he left his room unsupervised. He leaned against the bed as I got Ruby, who was nodding in and out of consciousness, into the chair and wrapped in the blanket.

"Kid, if you need anything, call me. I will answer the phone. If the doctors start trying to steal your blood or making crazy accusations, run." I said.

"Uh, sure, whatever you say."

I grabbed the handles and began taking her out of the room, checking the halls first to ensure that it was all clear. I was almost to the back door when Rhode's stepped in front of me. "Uh, Tony, what the hell are you doing?" He asked, "Isn't she supposed to be in the infirmary?"

"Just help me." I said, "She's not staying here."

He held doors for me, "What's going on?" He asked.

"They accused her of being a mutant, they drugged her a lot." I said quickly, getting annoyed with the fact he was asking questions instead of just helping me.

"What do you mean they accused her of being a mutant? Is she one?" Rhodes asked, snapping at me, fear laced in his questions.

"No. Of course she is not a mutant." I snapped back, "We would know if she was. It's a trait carried by the father, and I nor anybody else in my family is a mutant, are they?"

"Tony, if the doctors said-" Rhodes started, but I was quick to cut him off, "The doctors continuously drugged her. They aren't looking out for her, so even if she was, which she isn't, I wouldn't leave her in their care."

"So get Bruce's help, Tony!" Rhodes exclaimed, "If she is a mutant she could very well be too much to handle. We need more opinions, professional opinions."

"Rhodes, Ruby is NOT a mutant." I snapped as he opened the final door where Pepper was waiting for us.

"Why would you think Ruby's a mutant?" Pepper asked, only when she asked it wasn't laced with fear, just concern and confusion. I looked down at Ruby, her eyes closed and her mouth partially open, "If she is a mutant, we will still do nothing different, that is who she is. She physically cannot help it. She was born that way, Tony. However, you've heard the horror stories, she may need help." Pepper said as she took a step towards us.

"She's not one." I firmly said, "Now help me get her in the car."

They helped me get her in the car. I laid her across the back seat and then got into the back with her, bracing her head. Pepper covered her up and helped me get a pillow under her head. I gently moved her hair from her face, looking at her swollen and bruised eyes.

"Tony, let me know if I can help you." Rhodes said, this time honestly filled with concern.

"Thanks." I said, not sure if I should actually take his word on that.

Pepper gently and cautiously began driving us home. "Are you sure we'll be able to take care of her? If she has a head injury…"

"The drugs are what's making her sleep, but we've treated head injuries before." I said and met her eyes in the mirror, "Remember my first Ironman concussion?"

She laughed, "How could I ever forget! You refused real medical treatment and insisted that I could take care of you! I thought you were going to die!"

"But I didn't, because of you." I said as I laughed with her.

She rolled her eyes at me, and then her face got serious again, "Honestly Tony, do you think she is one?" Pepper asked, trying to be as gentle as she could.

I opened my mouth to respond when Ruby's weak little voice stopped me. "Dad?" She groaned, trying to open her eyes.

The word made me hesitate, it stopped all thoughts going through my head. I could feel Pepper staring at me intently. "Yeah, sweety, I'm here." I said.

"Good." She groaned, then her eyes shut again.

"Is that-" Pepper started.

"Yeah, the first time." I quickly said.

Pepper got us home and helped me get Ruby inside and comfortable on the couch. "She needs a room, Tony. A room here."

"And clothes." I said.

"I'll start ordering some and have them fetched." Pepper said, and I could feel that she was uncomfortable.

"I'm going to stay here, with her." I said. Pepper nodded and began walking away. "Pepper, what if she doesn't want to stay here. Live here, in my home?" The question slipped out before I could even try to stop it.

"Well, it's her choice. If that is what she wants, I don't think you can really blame her, but it's better to be prepared. Show her _we_ want her here."

I nodded my head and she face me a gentle smile before leaving.

I woke Ruby up about every hour- asking her simple questions like what her name was and if she remembered what had happened. It almost made me sad knowing that she remembered, but at the same time- I knew it was a good sign.

Finally, she came out of the fog the sedative had put her in and she woke up and stayed up. "Thanks for saving me." She said, sounding uncomfortable.

"It's my job, Ruby. My job as your father. You don't have to thank me." I said as I gently pushed some of her hair out of her face.

"I'm really sorry I just showed up out of the blue. Really, I am." Tears were beginning to fill her bruised and swollen eyes.

"Ruby, please, don't apologize for that. I'm sorry I was never there to take care of you like I should've." I said.

"You didn't know about me. That wasn't your fault." She replied.

Relief washed over me knowing that she saw it that way. That she no longer blamed me. "Ruby… I checked in on your mom. I wrote her letters. She never even got back to me. I'm so glad, eternally happy, that she brought you here so I could meet you, so I could know about you, but it was so suddenly. Was there a reason behind it?" I couldn't keep the question back- I didn't want to.

She turned away from me, her brow furrowing. "Why?" She quickly asked.

"Ruby, I just was wondering. Like I said, I am eternally grateful. But if there is a reason, you can tell me anything, it will change nothing in the terms of how much I love and care for you." I said as I gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

Her eyes were big and glassy as she looked up at me, "There was a man. A man that gave her, my mom, the time of day, a man that fed us. He was great at first, but then something changed. He hurt her… and… we left shortly after that."

"Ruby… Did the man hurt you?" I asked through gritted teeth.

She sat there, not meeting my eyes for several long moments. "Tony… I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"You don't have to then." I said, my heart aching because that in itself answered the question, but who knows how bad it was. How bad the abuse she had endured was.

"Hey you two." Pepper's voice caught me off guard. She looked exhausted. She _was_ exhausted.

"Hey baby." I said, "Ruby, this is Pepper, my fiance. Pepper, you of course know Ruby." I said, trying to make this less awkward.

"Hi Ruby, it is so good to meet you." Pepper said as she sat down next to me quickly, trying not to look or seem uncomfortable.

Ruby looked shocked. "You're getting married?" Her voice sounded breathless, shocked.

I felt Pepper tense up. "Well, yes, I am. We are." I quickly said as I slid my hand slowly to Peppers, and squeezed it tightly.

"I am so sorry." Ruby said barely above a whisper.

I sat forward at the same time Pepper did. Ruby already had tears soaking her face. "Ruby, what are you sorry for?" I asked as I gently pulled her into my arms.

"I screwed everything up, didn't I? All of you plans…" She started, sobbing harder.

"Ruby, no honey. You didn't ruin anything. I promise." I said as I rubbed her back.

"You've made things better." Pepper said, surprising me, but I quickly mouthed a thank you.

We got Ruby settled down and relaxed on the couch, then me and Pepper snuck away while she watched a movie. "Thank you for saying that back there." I said as I wrapped her in a hug.

"I meant it, Tony. If nothing else she's made us stronger. Stronger is better." She gave me a gentle smile and I returned it. In that moment, I thought everything just might be okay.


	12. Chapter 12

Tony never told me what the doctors had told him back at the tower, but after his odd behavior and the questions he was asking me, I was too afraid to ask him. Pepper had a great sense of style, she decorated "my" room for me and picked me out a wardrobe while she was at it.

As Tony got me comfortable in my room, where I would spend the rest of my healing time at, he looked me dead in the eyes and I knew a serious conversation was coming. "Ruby, listen, this will be your room- no matter what it will always be here for you-, but, if you're not comfortable staying here, you don't have to. You'll always have your room at the tower if that's what you would prefer-" He started.

"Tony,-" I interrupted, but he was quick to silence me with his hand, "No, let me finish, this is important." He quickly said.

"No-" I started, but he quickly silenced me again with his hand.

"I don't want you to think I will in any way be upset-" He started again.

"Dad," I said, and this time he stopped altogether, and his hand fell slightly, "I want to stay here. I want this to be my home, here, with you and Pepper."

"You do?" He asked, sounding shocked.

"Yes. As long as you are _both_ okay with it." I said.

"Of course we are." He said, his voice sounding breathless, and he quickly cleared his throat, "Really, we are more than happy to have you here with us." He said and kissed my forehead as he pushed back the tears that glazed his eyes. "Well, you need to rest." He said as he got up and went to the doorway, wiping his eyes, trying to prevent me from seeing the tears that slid down his cheeks.

"But-" I quickly said, my heart pounding hard, so hard I could feel it in my hands, and he quickly turned back around, his eyes alert- waiting for me to crush him, "Could I still come with you to the Tower sometimes maybe?"

He raised his brow at me, "Why?" He inquired.

"My brain quickly scrambled for a reason, "I want to train." I said, the words spilling out faster then my brain could process them.

"To train? Why?" He quickly asked as he gently leaned against the doorway "Is this about what happened?" His voice was more hushed now, "Ruby, I will make sure no one ever hurts you."

"You can't always be there, Tony. Which is okay. I want to be able to handle myself. Besides, I like your team, I like Thor and Bruce and Clint-"

"And Peter?" Tony asked, both brows now raised.

I felt my whole face get hot and blotchy with red spots, "Peter? Yeah, I guess Peters nice too." I said as I shrugged slightly.

"Uh huh, well, I can try and see what I can do, but I doubt there will be an issue with you coming around and training." He said and turned to leave again.

"Hey, Tony, does Natasha have, like, a power?" I asked, still trying to sound nonchalant.

"A… Power?" He asked confused.

"Yeah, Thor's a God, Bruce is the Hulk, Clint does the bow thing, Peter shoots webs, you have your super cool suit, what does Natasha have?" I asked.

"Uhhh… Her fists? She's a spy, crazy good training."

"Oh, that's what I thought."

"Why?" He inquired again.

"No reason, just curious." I quickly said.

"I'm sure... " He said, "Any more 'just curious' questions?"

"No, not right now I don't think." I said as I slid into my bed.

"Alright," He said and pushed away from the door, "sleep well then."

"You too." I replied. I slid the rest of the way down into my bed and laid my head down onto the pillow. I couldn't deny the exhaustion that riddled my body, but as I drifted to sleep, the nightmares started.

I woke up around 2 in the morning, my own screams jolting me awake. Tony's hands were like ice as they met my face, him gently taking my cheeks into his palms. I hadn't even had time to comprehend where I was, let alone that he was in the room. "Ruby, you're alright, you're safe. Tony's voice was soft, gentle.

I touched his left hand that held my right cheek. I let out the breath that I had been holding in for so long it was causing my lungs to burn, and the instantly felt relief as I did, but the air burned my throat like crazy. "I'm okay." I said my voice shaking and hoarse.

"Was it about being attacked? Ruby, I promise he is locked up, he won't get out for a long time- and I would never let him hurt you again." Tony quickly said.

"No, it wasn't about being attacked by him." My mouth was moving faster than my brain could process. Truthfully, I wasn't even really afraid of him, but to have to explain what I was afraid of was something I wasn't up for.

Tony's face turned from concern to confusion, "Then what is it, Ruby?" He asked.

I didn't think I had it in me to say a few more words, let alone the whole explanation of what I was afraid of. I could feel my eyes rolling back into my head as my body relaxed. "Sleep, please." I begged.

He scooped me up into his arms, holding me tightly to his chest, "Fine, but you don't have to do it alone this time." He whispered as he took me to the couch. He laid me across his lap then covered me up. "I promise, you don't have to do this alone tonight. I won't leave you."

"Thanks." I said sleepily. It was the first time I had really felt safe in a long time.

This time there were no terrifying nightmares- in fact there were no dreams at all. My body was stiff as I woke up, my muscles incredibly sore. Tony still slept underneath my head. I pushed myself forward, trying to clear my foggy thoughts.

A shower. I needed a shower. It would help me clear my head. I went to my room and picked out and outfit, I looked at the alarm clock that sat on the stand beside my bed- only 6:26 A.M. I sighed- knowing I would regret being up so early after the late and rough night I had had.

"Towels, where are the towels." I said aloud to myself.

"You can find towels under the sink in the guest bathroom" Jarvis chimed in to answer my question, making me jump.

"Uh, thank you." I said.

I made my way to the bathroom and then turned the shower on as hot as it would go. As I stepped into the shower, steam poured out around me. My muscles loved the heat, they immediately began to relax. I slid down the wall until my butt hit the floor of the shower and then stretched my legs out as far as I could get them to go, my joints in my knees and hips popping. I leaned my head back against the wall and just let the heat consume my body. I used this time to reflect on what Tony was asking me and how to answer him.

He wanted to know about the only man I had ever seen my mom with. He claimed to be a scientist of sorts, in Brazil for research. He treated my mom so well despite the fact she had me. For the first few months he took care of us- my mom could focus on me, being a mom, and keeping the house clean and cooking, all of the things women were expected to do in my culture, but then something in him changed. He hurt my mom, he beat her and wouldn't let us leave our home, I decided to stand up to him one night, and then he turned his attention onto me.

"Ruby?" Tony's voice brought me from my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm in here. In the shower." I said as I sat forward a bit to hear him better.

"Are you alright?" His voice was filled with concern, but it was laced with exhaustion, he had barely slept through the night, and when he did sleep, it wasn't a good sleep.

"Yeah dad, I'm fine." I said.

"Alright… I love you, Ruby. If you want to talk I am always here, but I won't force you to talk about anything."

Silence filled the space between us. I didn't know what to say to that. I heard him begin to walk away, so I just said the first thing that came to mind, "I love you too, dad." I heard him step back to the door, "I promise, when I am ready, I'll come to you."

"Good, then I will leave you to your shower."

"Wait, Tony, I'm almost finished. I need to ask you a question." I quickly said.

"Sure, we can talk in your room. There are some cleaning people here now, it'll be more private there." Tony said, his voice shaking slightly.

"Alright." I replied, trying not to have my voice shaking as well.

I finished my shower, quickly dried off and threw on my clothes- designer skinny jeans and a t-shirt from designers I had never heard of- and then I quickly combed through my hair and brushed my teeth, then walked slowly to my room trying to sort through my thoughts. Tony sat on the edge of my bed, twiddling his thumbs, looking nervous as all get out.

"Hey!" He said as I entered the room, "You're all finished with your shower." I could feel the fear radiating off of him. This was new territory for him just like it was for me, but even him being a superhero couldn't help him mask it.

"Yeah, it was a good shower. Really needed it." I said as I sat down next to him, my stomach suddenly in knotts.

Silence fell between us. "Ruby…" Tony finally spoke up trying to cut through the awkwardness, "Whatever you have to ask, you can ask." He said. I knew what he meant, he meant no matter what I had to ask or what I had to say he wouldn't be mad.

"Alright…" I started, cleared my throat, and then sucked in a large breath of air, "What did the doctors tell you? Is there something wrong with me?" I asked.

"Ruby, for starters, I cannot express this enough, there is nothing wrong with you." Tony quickly said, his words spilling out almost faster than even his mouth could keep up with- as if he had somehow rehearsed this.

"Then what did the doctors say, Tony?" I wasn't going to drop this, I could feel that there was something off here.

Silence fell between us again- but this time it was more of a tense silence. I didn't understand, I had a right to know if something was wrong, right? "Listen, Ruby," Tony started.

"You have swelling across your brain- across the frontal and temporal lobes, including your hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that is responsible for memories." Pepper suddenly chimed in, grabbing our attention, "We didn't want to worry you or have you straining yourself trying to remember every detail of your life fearing you may have forgotten something. If it was major, we hoped you would come to us. Tony still isn't processing that well and is unsure of how to put it to you if it has lasting effects, but I thought we should have been upfront from the beginning- we can work through it if there are lasting effects." She sucked in a deep breath then looked at us for a moment, "and I am sorry for eavesdropping, it wasn't intentional, I was just looking for your dad." Pepper said and gave us both a blazing smile.

"That's it?" I asked and looked back at Tony.

"What else would it be?" Tony quickly asked, almost too quickly again, as if there would be something he was expecting me to add.

"I don't know, cancer or something super scary like that." I said with a shrug, "I don't have any memory loss that I am aware of, just in case you guys were concerned with that."

"Good!" Tony exclaimed, but I couldn't help but feel that it wasn't true excitement, that there was something that wasn't being said still.

"Tony, I'm so sorry, but I really need to pull you away." Pepper said as she fidgeted in the doorway nervously, and I could hear the urgency in her words.

"Of course dear." Tony's reply was laced with confusion, "Ruby, if you go to the kitchen, it's right out to the left, a chef will make you some breakfast. We are going to go to my office, which is to the right, and down the stairwell on the right hand side."

I nodded and followed Tony from my room. He and Pepper went right towards his office, and I went left to the kitchen.


	13. Chapter 13

As I stormed into my daughters room I could feel something in the air was off- as if it were thicker the closer I got to her. I pushed the thought aside as I grabbed ahold of her trembling body. She screamed and it shook her whole body. "Ruby, you're alright, you're safe." I cooed as I tried to calm her.

Finally, she came to, her screaming ceased, and she recognized she was safe as she gently touched my hand with her own. Her voice shook as she met my eyes, "I'm okay." She said hoarsely.

I stared into her eyes, the eyes I had memorized so many times, but this time in her golden eye with the little dark fleck, and in her half light blue half moss green eye, I couldn't seem to find her. Like she was somehow lost, but she sat right in front of me. "Was it about being attacked? Ruby, I promise he is locked up, he won't get out for a long time- and I would never let him hurt you again." I didn't know what else to say to her.

"No, it wasn't about being attacked by him." She said as she moved her hand up through her hair, normally either very wavy or curly, was flat.

I was confused, what else could it be? Could it be me? What else had happened to her that she wasn't letting me in on? "Then what is it, Ruby?" I asked.

"Sleep." She begged. I could see the exhaustion that was quickly taking her over.

I picked her up, cradling her closely to my chest, I would be damned if I was going to let her be terrified and alone throughout the night in my own house. "Is she alright?" Pepper whispered sleepily as I passed her in the hall.

"She'll be alright, bad dream. Go back to bed." I whispered back to her.

Keeping my relationship going while raising a teenage daughter I just met, who had more demons than most adults, was proving to be difficult. I could feel Pepper's irritation as I walked past her. She wanted what was best for Ruby, but I knew she also wanted me. In our bed. Sleeping with her. I never expected it to be easy, but I also didn't expect this to be how the first night home with her would go.

I laid her on the couch, reclining the section of the couch that had that ability and rested her head on my outstretched lap. I put a small throw pillow in between her head and my legs to try and keep her comfortable, and then I pulled a blanket over her. It wasn't long and she was asleep, and I followed suit shortly after.

The sun shining through the curtains woke me. I was confused at first- I was the only one on the couch. I wondered for a briefe moment if it had all been a dream- or if even just some of it had been. If just the last few days had been, if I still had time to not blow it with Ruby and drive her to running away. Lord know, I wanted her still, I just wanted to take back my own actions. However, I realized it hadn't all been a dream- the pillow still laid on my legs, and the blanket was still where she had laid. My body cracked and popped as I stood up. "Where the hell did Ruby go?" I whispered outloud to myself.

"She's in the guest bathroom taking a shower, sir." Jarvis chimed in, "Also, the cleaning service, yard service, and kitchen staff just arrived. Shall I let them in?"

Shit, I forgot to cancel them, too late now. "Yeah, let them in." I replied. "If you could, also give them their assignments, but cancel any that involve Ruby's room."

"Yes sir." Jarvis quickly responded.

I quickly walked to the bathroom, trying to figure out what to say to her. I knocked twice, still not sure what to say. "Ruby?" I called.

"Yeah, I'm in here. In the shower." She replied.

"Are you alright?" Because that was what was most important.

"Yeah dad, I'm fine." She said, making my heart skip a beat at her calling my dad so willingly- so forgivingly.

"Alright… I love you, Ruby. If you want to talk I am always here, but I won't force you to talk about anything." It was the first time I had ever said it, and although it was while standing on the opposite side of a door then her, and while she was in a shower, it felt right. It wasn't a fear like the first time I told Pepper, this was undoubtedly true and would never ever change, and it was something she really needed to hear. Something I needed her to hear, so she knew.

Silence filled the room, and my heart sank down to my stomach. I figured I had said everything I could, so I turned to walk away, leave her in peace when her voice had me turning back to the door, "I love you too, dad." She said. Her voice shook, as if she was scared to say it, but it in no way sounded like she was making herself say it just because she felt like she had to, in fact, it almost felt like she was relieved. "I promise, when I am ready, I'll come to you."

Thank goodness. "Good, then I will leave you to your shower." I quickly said.

"Wait, Tony, I'm almost finished. I need to ask you a question." She said, making my heart pound so hard I was surprised she couldn't hear it through the door and over the running water of her shower.

"Sure, we can talk in your room. There are some cleaning people here now, it'll be more private there." I said, my voice shaking. I had faced bad guys of all shapes and sizes, I had saved the world more than once, but the thought of my teenage daughter needing to ask me a question- that had me absolutely terrified.

"Alright." She replied, her voice shaking as well.

I waited for a few more seconds, making sure there was nothing left she needed to say, and then I walked to her room. I sat on her bed, fidgeting and twiddling my thumbs as if I was some teenage boy who had just gotten caught sneaking booze from my parents liquor cabinet, now just awaiting my punishment. I heard her water shut off, and my heart started pounding faster. I knew it wouldn't be long now, and I would be at her mercy. As she walked into the room and words poured from my mouth, barely making any sense, I knew she knew I was scared, making me that much more vulnerable.

Silence fell between us again, it was awkward and uncomfortable, "Ruby…" I said, bringing her eyes darting from her hands up to my eyes, "Whatever you have to ask, you can ask." I said. Please, just know whatever it is, I would never be mad at you.

"Oh, alright," She said and cleared her throat, "What did the doctors tell you? Is there something wrong with me?"

She is a mutant. She is hiding it. She is trying to get you to say it. "Ruby, for starters, I cannot express this enough, there is nothing wrong with you." It sounded ridged, like I had rehearsed it poorly a thousand times, but to be fair, mentally I had rehearsed it while trying to prepare myself on the off chance it was true.

"Then what did the doctors say, Tony?" I could feel the edge in her voice. She wanted an answer, not to be consoled.

Silence fell between us, and it was so tense it made my skin prickle. "Listen, Ruby," I started, ready to start this conversation.

"You have swelling across your brain- across the frontal and temporal lobes, including your hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that is responsible for memories." Pepper 's voice made me jump, but what the hell was she doing? "We didn't want to worry you or have you straining yourself trying to remember every detail of your life fearing you may have forgotten something. If it was major, we hoped you would come to us. Tony still isn't processing that well and is unsure of how to put it to you if it has lasting effects, but I thought we should have been upfront from the beginning- we can work through it if there are lasting effects." She sucked in a deep breath then looked at us for a moment, mainly me, "and I am sorry for eavesdropping, it wasn't intentional, I was just looking for your dad." She just saved my ass, some way somehow, even if I hadn't seen how yet, I knew that had to be what was going on. I stared at her, trying to understand what the hell was happening.

"That's it?" Ruby's response caught me off guard.

"What else would it be?" I asked, still trying to figure out what was happening.

"I don't know, cancer or something super scary like that. I don't have any memory loss that I am aware of, just in case you guys were concerned with that." She said.

"Good!" It came out way to fast and way too excited.

"Tony, I'm so sorry, but I really need to pull you away." Pepper said, and I knew then that something was seriously wrong. I sent Ruby to get something to eat as me and Pepper went to my office.

"What is it Pepper?" I asked, "Why did you say those things?"

"Because, Tony, if you were going to say something about her being a mutant, and she isn't ready to come out, or if she's not and you just confuse her, it will just continue to complicate things. Word got out about you attacking her attacker, now people are digging and asking questions about Ruby. I'm sure there are going to be press hounding us soon. I think it is very important that we get ahead of this now. Ruby probably isn't going to appreciate being drug through the press, her privacy being violated, and everything else, so we should do what we can to spare her." Pepper said as she sat in my office chair.

"You're not wrong. I was hoping to have more time before this happened, I just wanted to

get her settled, get her comfortable, before we just throw her in like this." I said as I leaned against my desk.

"That's not all. You have gotten several messages from the rest of your team, Thor had to go back to Asgard, it sounds like there might be something else going on. Peter also needs to talk to you, says it's urgent."

"Did he say what kind of urgent? Is it like 'world at stake' urgent, or 'I called your daughter a goddess' urgent."

Pepper raised her brow as she looked at me, "I'm not sure, he didn't say. I didn't know that there would be a reason to ask."

"Well, let's just do this one thing at a time." I said as I took a deep breath, "If we take the press on first they are going to ask questions about Thor and possibly whatever Peter has to tell us, so we should start with them. Then, the press is next."

"I would have to agree with you." Pepper said, "You need to get back to the tower, you need to get caught up."

I rubbed the back of my head, "Are you sure?" I asked, "I don't know if I should leave Ruby here."

"Maybe you should take her with you." Pepper said after a silent moment and a sucking in a large breath, "I know you have as many questions as I do, and they have the ability to detect them there."

"No, I'm not doing that. I don't think she is one and she hasn't said she is, and that is enough for me." I said. "However, she did want to go to the tower, so I can take her with me."

Pepper snickered, "Maybe Peter can tell her she is a goddess to her face."

I pushed off the desk, "You're not funny. I will make sure to keep them apart. Far far apart." I said. Pepper laughed and stood up, taking my face into her hands, and pushing her lips to my own, "WE will get through this Mr. Stark. The press, whatever is going on with Asgard, Ruby dating, all of it."

"Not that last one, we are never gonna go through that." I said into her lips.

She laughed again, "I always figured this would be how you would handle your daughter dating." She pulled away and I wrapped my arms around her waist as I looked into her eyes. "You're a good dad, Tony. You had a rough start, but you're doing really well."

I pulled her in closer, hugging her tightly. "Don't worry, I'm sure you will eventually get to my parenting level."

She responded with an eye-roll and a laugh. I kissed her forehead and let her go. She straightened her dress, fixed her hair, and smiled at me, "I have a few things to do, you call me when you are ready for that press conference, and we can get that scheduled asap."

"Will do." I replied, and we both left the room. I went to the kitchen to find Ruby eating a stack of large homemade, perfectly golden pancakes, beautifully framed by fruit. She picked at it, I wasn't sure if she was not wanting to disturb the beautifully laid out food, or if she wasn't hungry, but she needed to eat, and I would see to it that she did. I looked at her side profile for a couple seconds longer, her face was bruised along her jaw and her eye still swollen, I wondered if it hurt her to eat.

The chef came over, pouring a syrup over her breakfast, she smiled a large smile and dug in, large bite after large bite. "This is really good." She said, and then thanked him.

I walked over, "You have quite the appetite." I said, and smiled at the chef, thankful they were sworn to secrecy.

"I love food." She said, mouth full of pancake.

I laughed and handed her a napkin, "Well, when you are finished, I am going to the tower, would you like to come with me?"

"You want me to go with you to the Tower?!" She asked, her face completely lit up with excitement.

"Absolutely, as long as you feel up to it." I quickly replied.

She shook her head quickly, and scarfed down her breakfast. I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten anything, so I took some fruit myself. Once we were finished, I took her out to the garage, "You wanna get there fast, or super fast?" I asked her as she looked around the garage.

"Super fast!" She exclaimed excitedly. I loaded her up in the Bugatti Veyron SS, making sure she was buckled in tight and her seat was far back. The way her eyes lit up and her mouth curved into a smile at the sound of the engine roaring, and then settling down into a purr when I turned it on reminded me of myself. The ride there was fast and lacked conversation- she was too excited to try and make conversation, and I was having too much fun watching her. We parked in my spot in the parking garage, I made sure to enter through the back where there would be no press lurking around.

"Tony, good to see you." Nick said as I stepped out of my car, "I was beginning to think you were just going to leave this mess for us to clean up."

"What mess?" Ruby asked, overhearing him as she stepped out of the car.

I glared at Nick, the last thing I needed was her fearing she messed something up. "Please, you know I am basically the maid around here- I clean up everyones messes."

Nick laughed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, the press has been sneaking around here, the last thing we want is them attacking us."

Ruby followed closely behind us, looking as if she were taking in every detail of the Tower. That's when it hit me, she had probably waited years, just hoping to one day step foot in this building, and when she finally did, it probably wasn't how she dreamed it would be, I didn't find out about her and take her here for sanctuary- a social worker drug her here terrified of being rejected and thrown out of the tower, of me turning back on her, and then I DID rejected her, the place she had probably idolized, dreamed about, was crushed in a matter of an hour. I shook the thought from my mind- this wasn't the time to do it, it wasn't the time to have a pity party. "Nick, why did Thor run back to Asgard so fast?" I asked.

"Something about a wave- I'm not entirely sure what he meant." Nick replied.

"A wave? That's all he had for us?" I replied.

"I guess. I wouldn't worry too much about it- it's probably Loki. Either way he's always been good about handling these things on his own, or coming to us for help if he can't"

"I suppose you're right. Have you talked to Peter?" I asked.

"No, but I did talk to his aunt. We really need better covers for that kid. He was waiting to talk with you." Nick replied, I knew he probably had asked Peter- maybe even badgered him, but Peter would never tell him anything without telling me first.

"Peter's still here, then?" Ruby quickly asked.

Nick raised his brow at the jolt of nervousness and excitement that filled her voice as he glanced at me. "Ruby, why don't you go to your room that's here. Wait for me there while I handle some stuff."

"Oh, c'mon Tony, let the kid come, don't make her sit in her room." Nick said, earning himself a sharp glare.

"Yeah, come on dad, I wanna come with you and see the Tower." Ruby said, taking Nick's comment as and open door and running with it.

"Alright, if you're sure. It'll just be a lot of walking and talking." I said, and got a quick head nod in reply.

First stop (against my best judgement)- Peter. He was alone in his room on his computer- focusing intensely on the screen. "Peter- good to see you up and alert." I said.

His eyes darted up to me, and then quickly over to my daughter. "Hello Mr. Stark, sir." He said, clearing his throat- but his voice still squeaked.

"You remember Ruby, my daughter. My little girl you may say- or my pride and joy." I said as I wrapped my arm over Ruby's shoulder, and pulled her into me. I felt Ruby tense as she glared at me- embarrassed as hell.

"Of course- she saved my life." He said, then swallowed hard, "Listen, Mr. Stark, about what I said about Ruby- your daughter-" Peter started.

I quickly snapped my arm from Ruby's shoulder and threw my hand up, "Not now, Peter." I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"No, wait," Ruby interjected, "Tell me what you said."

Peters face was red as Ruby inched closer, I knew better then to try and stop him. "I-I-I uh- I called you a Goddess."

Ruby's face turned as red as her name. "Oh" was the only reply she could muster at first, "So, what about it?"

Peters eyes got wide, and my heart raced too, "Uhm… Well," he said looking between us, "It wasn't an appropriate thing to say to your father, but it wasn't a lie."

Nick finally gave in and laughed and my discomfort, "Nick! Take Ruby to the training room while I talk to Peter." I snapped.

Nick and Ruby left the room leaving me alone with Peter. "Well, this is uncomfortable." He said after several long silent moments.

"Let's just cut to the chase because I am as uncomfortable as you. What the hell happened to you?" I asked.

Silence fell over us again as he looked down. When he finally spoke again, his voice shook. "Mr. Stark, those people, that… gang as you called them, it wasn't just drugs- really that was a cover, or a way to get people in. It wasn't just drugs and weapons even. Mr. Stark, they are… are doing things to the addicts they sell to. Scary things. They are trying to change them. Most of them die, but the ones that don't… They come out… Come out different."

"What do you mean different, kid?"

"They did this to me. They pummeled me, it's amazing I got away. I'm not sure how I did, I don't remember very much of the attack, just that it was nothing like fighting humans- or even like fighting Cap."

I rubbed my face as I thought, "Whatever it is, they know we know now, so we'll have to keep close watch and act fast to stop this."

"It's all moved. I went to ambush them- or atleast get a better look at it all, and it was gone- that's when they got the drop on me, but I didn't even know they were there."

"Kid, this isn't your fault. None of it. I'm just glad you're safe- honestly."

"Sir, I'll help in any way I can." Peter quickly said as he sat forward.

"I know, kid," I said, "and as soon as I know, you'll know. Do you know when you can go?" I knew his aunt must be worried sick.

"Aunt May thinks I'll be here for 2 more weeks. By then they said they would have me good as new."

"Sounds good, kid." I said, "Why don't you go ahead and get some rest."

I left Peter's room so he could rest, and so that I could catch my breath and get my thoughts in order. I found my daughter with Nick and Clint in the training area- Nick and Clint were teaching her basic self defense, a smile beaming across her face.


	14. Chapter 14

As I looked at Peter as we entered his room, I thought everybody could hear my heart pounding. Then he called me a Goddess, and I swore it would pound right out of my chest.

As Nick took me to where they trained, I couldn't get him off my mind. His hair, it had been washed and had a healthy shine. His face had little to no swelling left, and limited bruising, and he seemed to be more with it and mobile- he just seemed to be doing so much better. My mind traced back over the too recent memory of when I first met him- when I thought he would die in my arms as I tried to hold his blood in his body. It sent a chill down my spine.

"Hey there Ruby!" Clint's voice jolted my brain, and brought me suddenly back into reality, "How are you doing?"

"Hey Clint, I'm doing well." I quickly replied- my voice surprising me by being so even and steady despite where my mind had just wandered to.

"I'm real glad to hear that. Is your dad around here somewhere too?" He asked, jumping right passed me and to the point.

"Oh, yes, he's talking to Peter right now." I said, feeling my face get warm.

"Yeah, Tony kicked us out when Peter called Ruby a Goddess," Nick said with a laugh, "it apparently made him uncomfortable."

Clint stifled a laugh himself as my face blotched with hot red embarrassment. "Where are you guys headed?" He asked after containing himself.

"The training room, apparently." Nick said

"I was about to head that way myself, I think Nat's there." Clint said, and turned to walk with us.

Nat was there, mid routine. Her body shined from the layer of sweat that had glazed every inch of her visible skin, and she had headphones in her ears. She saw us almost immediately despite her concentration, and took both headphones out of her ears and grabbed the punching bag she had been wailing on, steadying it. "Hey guys." She said, not even slightly breathless.

"Hey Nat." Clint and Nick replied in harmony, and I just smiled. "We are gonna teach Ruby some of the basics, wanna help?" Clint asked.

"Is Tony here?" She replied, clearly having no interest in helping me train, but having a huge interest in my dad.

"He's talking with Peter." I said before either of them could reply.

"Well, then I will just jump in line behind Peter to talk to him." She said, tucking her headphones into her pocket and quickly heading for the door.

Clint grabbed her arm as she went to walk by him, "Nat, don't do it." He growled, trying to not be loud enough for me to hear, but failing.

She yanked her arm from his grip, "Don't act like this is an ok thing, Clint." She snapped. They stared at each other for another brief moment before she walked out.

"What's not okay?" I asked after an uncomfortable silence, but I had a feeling I knew the answer.

They both turned and looked at me, "It's not what you think kid. It's not really you she has a problem with, it's all on your dad. She doesn't think your dad's ready to take this on." Nick said.

"Either way, Ruby, it's not her choice to make. Your dad loves you. He'll make it work." Clint said. "There are more comfortable workout clothes in the locker room, why don't you go change."

I went into the locker room and found my size. The clothes were easy to move in and so very breathable, but they were gray- boring. Even the shoes- gray, but they were 'barefoot shoes' they protected my feet but didn't restrict movement. I had heard of them, but never even seen a pair. They were the most expensive shoes I had ever seen, let alone wore. I walked back out, Clint and Nick had also changed clothes. "We'll start out with some simple self-defense." Clint said.

They would talk me through it, then slowly go through the motions, then faster, but still being talked through it, then it was the real deal. The first two things they showed me, Clint would slam his body into me as Nick coached- he knocked the air from my lungs- disabled my arms, and pinned me, but the more we did, the more I caught onto it, and despite my aching body, the more I was enjoying it.

I don't know how many different things we had tried, but I was getting good at it, really good, so Clint took it up a notch. He grabbed my arm, pulling it back hard. My heart thumped just as hard in my chest, as I went to fight back against him, something in me snapped. I felt what I can only describe as searing heat shooting through my body to where Clint had a hold of me. Clit let out a loud 'Ow!' and released me as he shook his hands.

"What happened?" My dad's voice surprised me.

"We must've built up some serious static, because I just got shocked." Clint said then looked up at me, "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah, I did. Weird." I said as I rubbed my arm where he had just held it.

"Yeah, I saw it, it looked like a couple of mini lightning bolts," Nick said, "It had quite the shock."

"Are you both alright?" Tony asked.

"Fine." Clint said, and I nodded in agreement with him, "I think that's enough for today anyhow, I'm whooped and your daughter apparently controls electricity." Clint said with a laugh, "But really, you did fantastic, Ruby."

"Thanks." I said, still shocked at what had just happened.

"Tony" Natasha's voice caught us all off guard, "I finally found you. Can we talk?"

"Ruby, why don't you go change and hit the shower, alright?" Clint quickly told me, but his eyes didn't leave Natasha.

I took the hint and went to change and shower. I found myself again, wondering what I had done. "You didn't do anything, Ruby. Remember what Clint told you? Natasha is just a bitch." I whispered out loud to myself.

I decided I didn't want to just sit there, so I finished up and went back out, where I could hear muffled yelling. I walked towards the hall where the yelling was coming from.

"Natasha, this is none of your concern!" My dad yelled as I rounded the doorway.

"Hey!" Clint yelled at the sight of me.

They all turned to face me, "Hey, Ruby," My dad started, his voice shaking and his face red, "Why don't you go to your room and wait for me there, okay?" He was trying so hard to sound calm and collected.

"Okay." I said, trying to not sound curious about what they were very clearly fighting about.

I quickly let them be and began making my way to my room. I was just about to turn the knob when Peter's voice startled me. "Hey!" He said excitedly.

"Peter! You're walking!" I said.

"Oh, yeah, I can walk. Just a little unsteady, but no big deal. How about you? How do you feel?"

"Really well, actually. I'm still sore, banged up, but I heal pretty fast." I said, smiling.

"Me too, but that has more to do with Spiderman." He laughed, his laugh was so beautiful.

"You being Spiderman has something to do with how you heal?" I asked.

"Yeah, it like mutated my DNA. Plus, the doctors here, they're really good. They know lots of stuff on 'experimental to the real world' drugs." Peter quickly replied.

"Oh, gotcha." I replied, not really knowing what to say, "Well, I'm just glad you're better."

"Thanks, same to you." Peter said, then an awkward silence fell over us. "Listen, I was wondering… Would you want to, maybe, go get some food or like watch TV sometime… I mean, if you like food, or TV, or if you're not busy or anything." Peter began rambling.

"Like on a date?" I cut into his rambling.

"Oh! Yeah… like a... Like a date." He said as he ran his fingers quickly through his hair and leaned onto the wall. "Like, if you don't want to, that's cool. I'm sure you're busy, and I get that, I get busy too sometimes. Highschool, Spiderman, ya know, I get it- but like, if you ever get hungry, and there's no one to like feed you or eat with-" Peter began rambling again.

"Peter, I would really like that." I said, trying to save him from the word vomit he had induced.

"Really? You would like that?" He asked, his eyes wide, shocked.

"Yeah, I would." I said and smiled.

"You would what?" My dad's voice caught us both off guard and made Peter jump. He walked up beside of me, wrapping his arm tightly around me and putting himself slightly between Peter and me.

"Go out to get food sometime with Peter." I quickly said.

"If that's alright with you, of course, Mr. Stark." Peter barely managed to choke out.

Tony said nothing. Silence- tense silence- filled the area between the three of us. "Peter, I'll get back to you on when, okay?" I said

"Yeah, sure, of course. Just call, or I'll be here." Peter said as he hobbled away.

Tony turned and looked at me once Peter had disappeared down the hall, "Did that just happen, or did I imagine the whole thing? Please tell me I imagined it."

"What's the big deal? It's just dinner, maybe a movie. I almost watched him die- I held his blood in, I think the least he could do is buy me some food, right?" I said nonchalantly.

"Uh-huh, that's all right? Doesn't mean anything, not a date, not your boyfriend, none of that nonsense." Tony replied.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I think that'll depend on how dinner goes. What'd Natasha want?" I asked as I turned more towards him- defensive from his questions and his tone.

"You can't just change the topic like that, Ruby. I'm trying to talk to you about this, you just got here, you can't just do whatever you want." He snapped.

"I may have just got to you, but I'm not a baby. I'm 16, I'll be off to college, or something, in two years." I snapped, "Just because I just got here, to you, doesn't mean that my life just started." The words burned my mouth, I knew I was being harsh to him. I knew this wasn't on him, and I had just gotten here, but after basically taking care of myself for so long, I wasn't ready to just be treated like a child.

His shoulders slumped slightly and he looked away. "Alright." He said dryly, "You're right, I guess."

I knew I had hurt him, but I was being honest. I wasn't a baby, even if he had just met me. I wanted to be his daughter of course, but I certainly didn't think after taking care of myself for so long, I could just flip a switch and be controlled. He didn't tell me what Natasha had said, but after that, I didn't want to push it.

The ride home was silent. Neither one of us found it in ourselves to say a word, and I went straight to my room and called Peter later that night to finalize our dinner plans. Friday- two days to figure out what to wear.

Around then, there was a knock at my door, I quickly put down the book I had started and told them to come in. Tony opened the door, looked around the room before his eyes landed on my bed- but not meeting my eyes. "Hey." He said, I could still tell he had his guard up with me- he was still hurt by my words. In that moment, a vindictive thought crossed my mind 'Oh, how the tables have turned on who is hurt by the others words'. I shook the thought away immediately, I didn't want him to hurt.

"Hey." I replied.

"Listen, we need to talk. I know that this is going to maybe be upsetting, and believe me, I wish there was a way around it, but this, I think this is going to be the best way." Tony started.

"Tony, what is it? You're scaring me." I said quickly, my stomach flipping in my stomach. He was going to send me back, I could feel it, I knew he was going to.

"We have to have a press conference. If we try to keep you a secret it is not going to be a secret forever and when it gets out it will be ugly. Not only that, but I don't want you to be a secret. So, I think we should get ahead of it, and call a press conference, and show you to the world." He said.

My stomach settled some. "Are you sure?" I asked, "That makes it pretty permanent. And what if it hurts your image or something?"

"Ruby, you ARE permanently here, in my life. And if it hurts my 'image', let it. All that matters is you. Don't you want to be here permanently?"

"Of course I do, but…" I trailed off, not sure how to say what I was thinking.

Tony came into my room and sat on my bed, right beside me, but still didn't look into my eyes. "But what Ruby? Do you not want to be here? Please, just tell me."

I let silence fall on us for a brief moment, then sucked in a large breath. "I know that not everyone is on board about you keeping me- about you being my dad." I said.

Tony sucked in a breath and let out a long sigh, "Natasha said something to you I take it?'

"No, not really, but it's pretty obvious. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're not, but you have to understand, it's not you Ruby, it's all me. She's worried about you. She knows what I do, and she knows what it could possibly be like for you having me as a dad doing what I do. However, it is none of her business. None at all."

I nodded my head slowly, unconvinced. I didn't want to get attached just to have him change his mind.

"Listen, Ruby, I am going to put you and your needs first, always. If one day you look at me and ask me to hang up the suit, that'll be that. I'm going to do my best to balance you and Iron man- the Avengers, but if I feel like it is preventing me from being the best dad I can be to you- that'll be it. YOU are first Ruby. You are my child and will always come first." He said, being very firm. I could feel that he was growing tired of reassuring me very quickly.

"Okay." I said with a nod, not wanting to start a fight.

He gave me a brief side hug, and as his hand touched the skin on my shoulder, I was suddenly filled with concern for Thor who I hadn't even been thinking about. "Alright, well, I have some work to do then I'm going to bed." He said.

I nodded, then as he stood up my mouth began working faster than my brain, "Is everything with Thor okay?" The words fumbled out of my mouth.

Tony spun around, brow raised- his face puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

I rubbed the back of my head in nervousness, "I-I don't know, I just got a feeling that I should ask." I said.

"Just got a feeling?" He asked, pushing a little harder.

"I don't know, it just hit me. I felt like something was wrong, why are you pushing it so hard instead of just answering my question? Is he okay?" I asked, putting the ball quickly back into his field.

He shook his head slightly, like he was shaking his thoughts clear. "He's okay. He's going to come back soon. There are things happening in Asgard, things we can't explain yet."

"What sort of things?" I asked my stomach clenched- all I could think of suddenly was there being some sort of war and losing my dad after just getting him in my life.

"We don't know, not yet, but we think it may have to do with another galaxy- maybe not even purposefully. We don't know what all is out there." My dad said calmingly, "Don't worry, Ruby. It's an asteroid storm coming from nowhere- they're well prepared for this- everyone will be fine."

I gave him a slight smile- he had settled my nerves some. "Thanks." I said. He gave me a quick kiss on my head and then quickly left me alone in my room with my own thoughts. I knew, somehow, he had either projected his thoughts into me or I took them from him. I took in several long deep breaths trying to calm myself. "Ruby, calm down. You can't do this." I whispered out loud to myself, after a while I managed to convince myself that I was not crazy, and it was just some sort of weird coincident.

I finished the book I was reading and then went to bed. The next morning Pepper had me up early. "Your dad is at the tower, getting things ready. I have a nice dress picked out for you, and someone is coming over to do our hair and makeup." She said with a smile as she sat a plate of food on my lap.

"Why?" I asked as I picked up a piece of bacon and took a large bite out of it.

"Why? Why what?" Pepper asked, almost sounding offended.

"No offense, but I've never really wore makeup, and my hair is always the same, and I only like jeans and sweats and shorts- I don't really wear dresses. Don't you want everyone to see the real me?" I asked.

"Oh! Ruby, of course we want them to know you for you, but today is a little more formal. They'll get to know you gradually- today is like the interview, and you have to dress nice for those- ya know?"

I thought on it as I chewed on another piece of bacon. "Yeah, I getcha." I said.

She chuckled, "Well then, you finish your breakfast and jump in a quick shower, there is a robe already in there as well as a hair towel and regular towel, then come out and we'll get started. Sound like a plan?"

I nodded my head as I stuffed egg in my mouth and she smiled then left my room. I took a few more bites, but as nervousness set in I felt my appetite leave. I climbed into a shower, the knots in my stomach made me question if I would be able to even keep my breakfast down, and the hot water did nothing to help it.

After several long minutes I gave up on the hot water helping and quickly finished my shower. I dried myself off, threw my hair into the hair towel and wrapped it up, then slid the robe on. I looked at myself in the mirror- for the first time in a long time my demons didn't rear their ugly heads by giving me big bags under my eyes; however, my face was pale from the nervousness. I walked from the shower and Pepper stood waiting for me. "Good, you're all clean!" She said excitedly, "Let's get started on that girl time."

Two men waited for us in her office. They both wore black clothing with white aprons. We sat in chairs and they began playing with our hair.

"Your hair is so thick! All of these curls!" The one doing my hair exclaimed. "I think we're gonna keep them. I think I have the perfect headband for you. We'll just throw it up in a ball-bun and give you some pins and spray and slap that headband on you and send you on your way. How's that sound?"

"You're not going to straighten it or anything?" Pepper asked.

"Oh no!" He yelled and dramatically clutched his hand to his chest. "Look at all these beautiful exotic curls, they're so healthy and full, and look at how well they suit her, they are perfect!"

She stared at my reflection in the mirror, "You're the expert." She said with a shrug, and I couldn't help but feel a slight sting.

For Pepper, they did simple waves/curls, keeping it down. Her makeup, very professional. Light eyeliner, simple eyeshadow, and a lovely color lipstick. She was done well before me. Her dress was black and fitted, and as she sat back down to get her nails done I had just had my hair finished. My makeup was a bit more dramatic. Eyeliner and foundation thicker, eyeshadow a bit more dramatic- not subtle, and an ugly dark color painted onto my lips.

My dress was blue. Sapphire. Unlike peppers, mine was knee length, and poofed slightly out at my waist. My whole chest was covered, and small rhinestones littered the dress. "This is the dress?" I asked.

"You don't like it?" She asked.

"I look kind of childish." I said with a shrug, "It's like a toddler's princess dress, but instead of being pink, its blue."

"I think it looks nice!" She said.

I shrugged, "You're the expert, if you say it looks good, I believe you."

She smiled warmly at me, "You look great." She said, then handed me a pair of heels.

"Listen, I can't walk in those. I never really have." I quickly blurted out.

"You never wore any heels?" She asked, somewhat dumbfounded.

"Never." I replied. "Well, I mean, me and my friend Twyla did once at our group home, but they weren't ours. She was pretty good at it, but I wasn't."

She stared blankly at me for several long moments. "That's the first time you've opened up to me." She said, her voice hoarse. "You had a friend?"

I crossed my left arm across my chest and rubbed my right shoulder. "Oh, yeah, Twyla. She's my best friend."

"Maybe we could get permission and you two could have a sleepover here sometime?" Pepper quickly said.

I furrowed my brow as I thought back to the last time I saw her. "She ran away." I said, my voice catching. "Before I came here, she ran away from the group home to be with a guy- a guy who was bad news."

Peppers face fell, "You haven't seen her since?"

I shook my head, "Just once. She… She had track marks all up her arms, and the guys she was with… They weren't good." I said.

"Oh Ruby, I'm so sorry sweetie." She said and stepped closer to me.

I cleared my throat, "Don't we need to be there soon?" I asked.

"Oh! Yes, we do!" She said, and was about to take me to the car, "Are you okay to do this?" Her voice was full of sincerity.

"Yes." I quickly said, "But what about my shoes?"

"Don't worry, just wear them, I'll help you get used to them and you'll be fine." She said.

The ride there was filled with small talk, nothing too deep- which I was grateful for. As we pulled up to the Tower, pepper looked me directly in the eyes, "Listen, they will try to bully you, don't let them. If you don't want to say anything- don't say anything. Do you understand?"

I nodded quickly, and then as the car came to a stop in a parking space, Bruce and Clint were each at our doors. "This way, ladies." Clint said.

We were taken in a back entrance and taken through back halls to the press room. My dad was anxiously awaiting our arrival. He greeted Pepper with a kiss on the cheek, "How are we doing'" He asked.

"We're good, how are you?" Pepper asked.

"Oh, you know how the press goes." He said.

"Are they pretty crazy?" Pepper asked.

"They're critical, of course. They want to know what they're getting themselves into- if it's worth their time."

"Oh… It's worth it for them." Pepper said as she raised a brow.

"We're ready, Tony." Nick said, "Everyone is in there."

"Alright, I'll signal for you to come out, and we'll do the same for you, Ruby." My dad said, looking me dead in the eyes.

I nodded, and he quickly walked out on stage. Camera flashes flashed over and over as he walked out. "Good afternoon, thank you all for coming on such short notice. Before we get started, as always, I want to go over my basic rules again. Today we have a large announcement, this announcement is biggest to me and my future wife, Pepper Potts; however, this directly affects the avengers too. So, as always until we are finished, hold your outbursts of attacking questions until the end. If you can't do that- you will be escorted out because asking you to leave never gets the hint across. Pictures are always welcomed because I know- it's your job. Blatantly disrespectful or grotesque questions or comments will NOT be tolerated- especially this time. I will sick the Hulk on you and he may throw you out the window, and I promise, it is a long way down. So, without another rant from me, please welcome Pepper on to the stage to help me make this announcement." Tony was so to the point, I had read about him, and he took no nonsense from the press. Whether they had always been on his side or slandered him, they were always held to the same standard- no nonsense.

Pepper squeezed my shoulder before walking out, cameras flashing as she walked across the stage to Tony. "Alright," Tony spoke again after kissing her and taking in a large breath, "Like I said, this is very big for us, but it first needs a little backstory: Sophia Silva was a lovely Brazilian native I met when I went back to Brazil for the first time since my parents had died 17 years ago. She lived in a very poor village, while I was there we had a relationship that got rather serious, and it ended right before I came back. I wrote to Sophia but never got any sort of reply. 13 years later she came to America, where she shortly thereafter died of glanders. However, she did not come alone, she came with her daughter. Her daughter was placed into foster care, and recently a social worker and Sophia's daughter came to me. Why? Because Sophia's daughter is my daughter. Please, welcome my daughter, Ruby Stark, to the stage." And there was my signal- a simple hand gesture.

My heart pounded so hard in my chest as I quickly walked across the stage into my father's embrace, watching every step out of fear that I may fall or twist my ankles in the shoes that were blistering my feet. The press erupted into chaos. As questions were flying at us, Tony quickly silenced them all with a simple hand gesture. "Questions are one at a time, or you can all leave." Tony was calm, but firm.

Silence quickly replaced the noise, and hands were raised instead. "You." Pepper said, pointing to one of them.

"Thank you, Ms. Potts. This question is for you and Mr. Stark- Are you planning on continuing your relationship and careers or are you looking into other options for Ruby?" The man asked. I was put off by the question- glad it wasn't aimed at me. Why couldn't I stay, the stay together and them continue on with their careers?

"Thank you for your question. Yes, we plan on being a 'both parents working' family. A two-income household." Tony replied, "How about you, ma'am?"

"Pepper, do you think you're ready for this role?" The woman asked.

"At first, I didn't think I was, but now, I definitely think I am." She quickly responded. "How about you, sir?"

"Ruby, did you know that the infamous Tony stark was your father all of your life or were you just as shocked as he was when the blood test came back?"

I cleared my throat, but it didn't stop my voice from squeaking. "I found out when my mother died 3 years ago. She told me while she was on her deathbed."

"Why did it take you so long to come forward? Weren't you afraid of deportation?" He quickly snapped back.

"One question!" Tony barked.

"It's okay." I said, "No, I wasn't afraid of being deported. My mother said I was the child of an American man, and we came here on legal visa, although not legally obtained. When she died, because there was no family to claim me, I was put into foster care, several of them, and eventually in a group home. I didn't think anyone would believe he was my father, so I just didn't tell anyone."

"Sir, how about you?" Pepper said, pointing to a man in a dark coat, with a hat pulled down over his head.

"We've heard of Thor suddenly going back to Asgard, despite his pledge to stay at Earth for the foreseeable future unless he is needed on his home planet, is there a reason for that?" He asked.

My dad raised his brow, "Uh, not sure what that has to do with this, but Thor went back because of a large volume asteroid storm, Asgard needed his assistance." He was clearly confused, "How about you, ma'am?" My dad said and pointed to a woman right up front in a wheelchair, and the other reporter I noticed made his way to the exit.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark. This question is for Ruby. Ruby, why suddenly did your mom decide to bring you to America after 13 years?" The woman said, pulling my attention back to the conference.

My mind flashed back to the memory- the last clear memory- before we made our journey to America. My heart pounded so hard in my chest I was sure everyone could hear it. "I- I don't know… I guess. She just, did. One day she woke me up early and said we needed to leave."

I felt my father shift next to me, he had not only just felt that I had lied, but he knew something was wrong with what I had just said. "I think that's enough questions for today." He said.

"Wait, Ruby," The woman shouted as my dad began to guide me and Pepper towards the stage exit, "What are the bruises on your face from that have been covered up?" My dad's body went rigid at her words, "Is the transition maybe not going as smoothly as you are leading us all to believe?" She finished, and I could feel the fury in my father's body.

"Both of you, go." He whispered.

"No," I quickly said, and pivoted awkwardly around him, my heel slipping ever so slightly, twisting my ankle a little bit. I pushed through it and walked back to right in front of where she sat, "How could you say that? My dad had no idea I existed, and I just show up out of the blue and you think he would take me from state care and beat me? My dad is great, he is a hero, he would never hurt me." The overwhelming aching I felt in my chest- the anger that I suddenly had, had tears in my eyes threatening to spill down my cheeks.

"Then please, tell us what they're from." She said.

"Another man. I ran away and my dad saved me from a bad guy." I said, not letting my mind flash back to that night.

"So, you ran away so soon?" She asked.

"You have no idea what was going through my head, what happened to me, what any of this is like, so you can't act like you know something you don't." I snapped.

"Alright Ruby, that's enough sweetie, you've said what you needed to." My dad said as he gently lead me off the stage.

I hadn't realized that the tears had overflowed from my eyes until my dad offered me his handkerchief. I took it quickly, wiping my face and smearing makeup across my face. I stifled a sob and sucked in a big breath, trying to get myself back under control. "Thanks." I managed to choke out.

"You did so great out there, kid. Better than at least half of my press interactions." He said as he placed a firm hand onto my shoulder, then pulled me into his chest. "Let's go home." He said.

This time he rode with us, and the ride was completely silent. I stared out the window, knowing that he would ask about what I had lied about, what the lady had said, and I knew I had to tell him. When we got back home I immediately took off the shoes my feet had been begging for me to destroy for hours, and went to my room to clean myself up. I changed into more comfortable clothes, throwing the dress in a lump on the floor. I laid down on my bed, curling into a ball, trying to straighten all my thoughts and emotions when a gentle knock came on the door, "Hey, can I come in?" My dad asked.

"Yeah." I said, my voice sounding rough and hoarse.

He came in and laid on his back next to me. "I'm sorry that it went like that today. I know how draining this all must be for you right now. It seems like one thing after another after you just had a huge change. I promise, it'll all settle down soon."

"It's okay." I said, not looking at him, "Sorry I cried."

"It's alright Rubes. You don't have to apologize." He said.

Rubes? What the hell? "Did I ruin your image?" I asked, deciding not to ask if he had just had a stroke or something.

He laughed as he rubbed his face, "No, you didn't ruin my image." He said, but I could feel that he wasn't finished, just trying to figure out how to put what he wanted to say into words.

"You want to know what happened, don't you?" I asked, my voice shaking and hoarse.

"I don't want you to feel like you have to, but Ruby, I have to admit, I am worried about you." I said.

I nodded, then as he went to meet my eyes I turned my head so I wouldn't have to look at him as I sucked in a deep breath. "I told you about the guy who gave me mom the time of day, the scientist. He was great for a while, he let my mom do the things women were supposed to do in the village instead of worrying about scavenging for food. But then he started getting drunk, beating my mom. My mom protected me, she always protected me, but one night instead of hiding like she told me to do, I came out. I hit him and beat him and screamed as well as I could for just being a kid, and it really pissed him off. He knocked my mom out and took off with me, ran into the woods. I remember him hurting me, but the harder I fought back, the more he hurt me, the fuzzier things got. There's a whole section I don't remember." I squeezed my eyes, tears soaking my cheeks and down my shirt, I sucked in another breath hard, my dad not moving. "When my mom found me, I was asleep, but the man, he was dead. She never told me exactly what had happened to him, just that he was dead. She told me once she thought she killed him, blinded by rage, but I think she may have been lying. We weren't going to leave, but people started asking questions, and my mom was afraid, especially considering she couldn't answer them. So, one night we took what little food and money we had, and we left. She carried me a lot, because the man, he really hurt me, but she was determined to get us out of there, and come here, to you. She told me that you would help us, but I never knew what she meant really. I had assumptions, like with money, but when she told me that, it seemed like maybe it had a deeper meaning." As I let out a long breath, it came out more of a sob, my dad grabbed ahold of me and pulled me into his arms.

"It's okay Ruby. No one will ever hurt you again." He said, his teeth clenched. I sobbed into his chest as he rubbed my back until exhaustion finally over took me.


	15. Chapter 15

Pepper helped me with my hair, and encouraged me to wear a dress- but I was much more comfortable in jeans. I looked at myself in the mirror a million times, making sure I looked perfect- the closer it got to when Peter was supposed to be there, the harder my heart would beat.

"You look perfect, Rubes." My dads voice surprised me.

I didn't expect to see him, I knew he didn't approve of any of this, but yet there he was, standing in my doorway, a smile on his face. "Thank you." I said.

"You know, I may not be thrilled about this, but if you are insistent on dating, I guess I'm glad it's Peter."

I chuckled as I turned to face him, "Why? Because he's afraid of you?" I asked through my laughs.

"That is exactly why." He said, and smiled as he entered my room. "So, I know this is your first date, but I would much rather be safe than sorry in this situation." He sucked in a deep breath as he sat on my bed, and I went to sit next to him.

"About what?" I asked, concern suddenly washing over me.

"Well, Ruby, about being safe." He said, his voice shaking.

"Whoa! Dad, no!" I said as I shot to my feet, "You don't need to do that, trust me. I know how it works!"

"Well, Ruby, I just don't want-" He started.

"Neither do I!" I exclaimed. "None of it, I want none of it!"

He sucked in a deep breath, "So you'll be safe then?"

"I will do you one better, I won't do it, period!" I said.

"You say that now, but-"

"But NOTHING, I have no intention of having sex for a very long time!" I said.

"Alright…" He said with a sigh, "I'm not trying to make you feel uncomfortable. I just want this to be an open conversation."

"I will make sure to be safe whenever it happens, with whoever it may be." I said, praying this conversation would be over.

He sat in silence for a few moments. "Alright." He finally said, and then the doorbell rang, "I believe that would probably be your date. Can I walk you down stairs?"

"I would be honored." I said with a smile. He returned the smile and I looped my hand around his arm. He walked me down the stairs, where Pepper had just let Peter in. Peter wore a nice dress shirt and jeans.

"Mr. Stark," He said then turned to me, "Hey Ruby." His eyes became softer, more relaxed when they landed on me.

"Where are you two headed tonight?" Pepper asked.

"I have reservations at a nice chinese restaurant, and then I thought we could go see a movie if you wanted?" Peter asked.

"That sounds great." I said, and smiled.

"Be home by 11." Pepper said. "9" Tony quickly interjected. Pepper rolled her eyes, "Be home by 11." She said, then quickly escorted us towards the door before Tony could object again.

We took a cab back into the city. The ride was mostly silent, uncomfortable. "So…" I finally said, "Your mom is cool with you doing all of this?"

"My parents died when I was little. I live with my Aunt May. She… She doesn't really know I do this. She thinks I intern with your dad, which is what she thinks I'm doing now while I take care of this." He said and pointed to his arm, which was casted still, "The rest of my injuries are pretty much healed. What about you? How do you feel?"

"Me? Oh, I feel fine. Much better." I said, gently touching where one of the many bruises still lingered, but was masked well with makeup. "So where do you usually live?"

"In Queens. Forrest Hill." He quickly replied.

"Oh! I was in a foster home around there once! In Richmond Hill, corner of 123rd and 103rd, just a couple of blocks from Hibiscus!"

"Yeah, I think I know where you're talking about." He said, his voice slightly higher, "I forgot that you were in foster care."

"Oh… Yeah. Weren't you? When your parents died?"

"No, my aunt and uncle took me right away. I was actually staying with them when it happened. They died in a plane crash, I was only 6."

"Oh. I'm sorry, Peter." I said.

"Nah, it's alright. I moved on from it. I barely remember them anymore." He said, and then the cab pulled up to the restaurant.

Peter held the door for me as I stepped out of the cab, and again for the restaurant. It was nothing extravagant, just a quiet, cozy, little chinese restaurant. Clouds were covering the sky when we stepped in, and by the time we took our seats at the table by the window, rain was beginning to fall.

"So, are you going to go to school around here in the fall?" Peter asked after we placed our orders.

I thought for a second, "Well, I don't know. Maybe. I was going to an alternative school at the center for a while, and before that I was going to William, but I don't know if my dad will have me go to school or not." I said.

"There is probably a special school for the rich and famous kids." Peter said with a shrug, "And you're very famous right now." He gestured subtley to look around.

I did, and I hadn't noticed until that moment that everybody was either starting or glancing in our direction. Infact, I didn't notice that there was even anybody else in the restaurant until he pointed it out. "I guess you're right." I said as I slid down slightly.

"Do you wanna get out of here?" He leaned in and asked me, recognizing I was uncomfortable.

I looked at him and nodded slowly. He threw some money on the table, then told the waiter to cancel our order. He took me by the hand and we basically ran out the door into the pouring rain. "Where are we gonna go?" I asked as the rain began soaking my clothes.

He pulled his mask from his pocket just enough so I could see it, "I know a place." He said with a grin, then stuffed it back in his pocket.

He hailed a cab and we quickly crawled in, he pulled me close, he was warm and I was shivering from the rain. He guided the cab driver to the south side, where there was less light pollution, and big abandoned buildings and very few people. Once the cab was out of sight, under the cover of night fall, he made a giant web. He grabbed my waist and went to hoist us onto it, but I quickly stopped him, "Peter your arm."

"It's alright, the cast is reinforced so I can work and heal as long as it's nothing too heavy or too straining." He said, and then suddenly we were soaring up to the web. We laid on that web, watching the stars come out one by one. "This is beautiful." I said.

"Thanks. I love it out here. There is so little light, you can actually see the stars."

"In Brazil, where we lived, there is no light pollution. At night the sky is lit up with bazillions of little and big stars. They're beautiful. My mom used to tell stories about what some of them were, and what some of the constellations meant and how they got there. It's a different sky down there, though. We see different stars." I said.

"I bet it's not near as beautiful as this view." He said.

I scoffed, "There are hardly any stars you can see here!" I said as I turned to look at him, but he wasn't staring at the stars, he was looking at me. I felt my cheeks get red hot. "Thanks." I said, "I don't really think I'm that pretty."

"What?! You're beautiful Ruby!" He quickly said.

I shrugged, "My eyes are different colors, my skins a funny color, my face is too long, and my hair as a mess." I turned back to look at him, "It's not a big deal to me, I don't really care about looks."

"All that stuff, it's part of what makes you so beautiful. That, and you're a beautiful person. Like on the inside. You forgave Tony for everything, you care about people, I mean look at me, you saved my life and still sat by my bedside even though you didn't know me, just so I wouldn't wake up alone. Ruby, you're so beautiful, inside and out. Even I can tell that, and we barely know each other."

We sat in silence for a few moments, "Maybe you think I'm beautiful _because_ you don't know me." I said.

Before I could say anything more, Peter grabbed me and pulled me into his arms in a tight hug. "Ruby, whoever made you think you weren't beautiful, I wish I could meet them, so I could tell them how wrong they were."

"Peter, you're great." I said as I hugged him back.

He went to say something, but then his watch started to beep, "Shoot, I need to get you back so Mr. Stark doesn't kill me." He said, grabbed me by the waist, and then lowered us both to the ground.

"Peter, it's only just past 9." I said with a small chuckle, "We have until 11."

"No, Mr. Stark said 9, Pepper said 11, so obviously the right answer is 10." He said.

"Peter, there aren't going to be any cab's out here." I said, the realization finally hitting me.

"Don't worry, I have it covered." He said with a grin, then quickly grabbed my waist, and shot a web to the tallest nearby building, and suddenly we were soaring through the air. I clung tightly to him as I looked all around, watching the lights of buildings soar past us. The cars looking like little toys, and the people looking no bigger than dolls.

We landed safely in an ally. We quickly hailed another cab and directed it to my home. We made it at 9:55. We stood by the front door, holding hands, an uncomfortable silence lingering over us. "So listen," Peter finally said, "There's this dance, at my school, on the first Saturday after school starts in two weeks. I know it's really short notice-"

"I would love to." I quickly said.

Peter's eyes shot up to mine, "Really?" He asked, stuttering slightly.

I couldn't keep the giggle that bubbled up from coming out, "Yeah, really. I had a great night." I said as I shifted my weight.

Peter smiled, "So did I." I leaned towards him, when suddenly a loud alarm started going off. "Shoot!" Peter said, and suddenly my dad shot out the door.

"Come on kid, that's us!" He said, and waived the cab away as he began guiding Peter to the garage.

"It's masquerade ball! I'll talk to you soon!" He yelled over his shoulder before fully turning away from me.

I sighed as I turned to go inside. I took my shoes off at the door and Pepper came around to greet me. "Did it go okay?!" She asked excitedly.

"It was really great. He invited me to his school dance." I said, and smiled.

Her eyes got big as let out an excited gasp, "We'll start dress shopping in the morning! What's the theme?"

Ugh. A dress. "Masquerade ball. Not really sure what kind of dress you get for that." I said.

"A beautiful one. Oh, that sounds so romantic!" She gushed.

"Yeah, it does." I said.

"Are you alright honey?" She asked as she walked up to me, pushing my hair out of my face.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Where are they going?" I quickly asked.

"To the tower, it was an internal call. Peter can't fight or anything like that, don't worry. And your dad's more than capable to take care of himself." She replied.

"I could have went." I said.

Pepper was silent for a moment, "Ruby, I think I know why you want to do that, and I don't want you getting hurt because that's not doable. I think, maybe, you should set more realistic dreams for yourself." She wasn't trying to be hurtful, she was being sincere.

"I don't think that dream is too unrealistic." I said, "I think I have what it takes."

Pepper smiled at me gently, "Why don't you come inside and we will put some tea on the stove and start a movie and see if we hear anything from your father about what is going on."

I nodded and she guided me inside, knowing I was upset. I knew it was something I could do, and I would just have to prove it to them.


	16. Chapter 16

We didn't hear from my dad until he came home around four the next morning. Pepper and I were both asleep on the couch, the tv had automatically clicked itself off, the laptop we had been using to look at dresses had gone black because we hadn't touched it in so long and had slid to the floor and laid upside down and our tea had long gone cold. We had talked boys and dresses and watched a romantic comedy until we both couldn't keep our eyes open.

I heard him come in but Pepper didn't even stir. I got off the couch to find him limping in the doorway- bruised and beaten. "Dad, what happened?!" I exclaimed as I hurried over to him- he looked as if he may collapse at any moment.

"I'm alright, Ruby. Everybody is alright." He said, clearly just trying to keep me calm.

"Let me help you." I said, "Who did this to you?"

"It's a long story- and really _I_ don't know who they were. None of us do. Peter is the only one who has seen them before, they were the ones that did that to him." My dad said and then looked back up to me, "But you don't need to worry Ruby, we will handle this. You are safe. Peter is safe too- we left him at the tower for eyes."

"I could help you. Let me help you. All of you went and faced them and look at you. You need more help."

"Ruby, this isn't up for discussion. Not now, not ever. You will never be an Avenger, you will be a normal person. I will make sure you never are, and I don't want to hear anymore about it! Do you understand me?!"

I was taken aback to say the least. I was just trying to help him- not even necessarily bring up that conversation, just get him to bed and offer my eyes, not even to be an Avenger, and here he was, biting my head off. I almost left him there, ran from him, but I was done running. "I just want to help you get to bed." I said.

"I can get myself to bed." He snapped, then began limping away. I followed behind him and realized after a few feet that he was- in fact- not okay. I grabbed him as he grabbed his head and went forward, making his fall more gentle, but he was too heavy for me to just pick up. He groaned in pain as I flipped him onto his back and helped him sit up.

"You're bleeding." I said, seeing the blood coming through his shirt for the first time. I lifted it up despite his weak protests, "This doesn't look good, I think we should take you to a hospital." I said.

"Pass. I've had worse and lived. I just need to get some sleep." He said.

"You can't even walk." I said in a "are you stupid?" tone.

He pushed me away and slowly got back to his feet, but after a few steps he blacked out. I caught him, but he was too heavy. "Pepper! I need help!" I yelled.

"I will wake her." Jarvis chimed in as I struggled to keep my dad up right.

"Dad, wake up!" I yelled as I slumped to the ground, making sure he didn't smack his head. "Come on! Wake up!"

"Oh God, Tony!" Pepper gasped as she came around the corner to us. She got down beside of us, examining him. "We have to get him up to bed, can you help me?" She asked. I nodded quickly, and then helped her get him to his feet. He was in and out of consciousness all the way to his bedroom. Pepper helped support him with one arm, and then with another she cleared off the bed down to their sheets, and then we laid him down. "Jarvis, give me his vitals." Pepper said.

"Heart rate is above, blood pressure is low. I expect it is not the bleeding, but a head injury, ma'am." He quickly answered.

"I think you're right, that is why he is unconscious. Okay, we still need to stop the bleeding." Pepper said as she looked up at me, "Can you go into our bathroom, grab some towels and the first aid kit, the rubbing alcohol wipes, and get one of the towels wet but not soaked with warm water?" She asked.

I nodded and quickly went to get it all. She was quick to take complete control of the situation. His shirt was off when I got back and he was in a more comfortable spot in bed. She used the wet towel to remove the blood from the area, and then used an alcohol wipe to clean the area. "I think this will be fine without stitches." She said, then wiped it with both items again, used some sticky tape to pull it together, and then bandaged it. She then sent me back into the bathroom for a cool wet cloth. She rubbed it on his head while looking for any other injuries. After a while she covered him up with a light blanket and put his head on a pillow then turned back to me. "Oh honey… He will be okay." She said as she took my face in her hands. I hadn't even realized I had been crying until she wiped tears off of my cheeks. She wrapped me into a hug, "This is part of what he does. It comes with the territory."

I nodded my head, not knowing what exactly to say. She pulled back from the hug, looking me in the eyes. She gave me a gentle smile and rubbed my shoulder before dropping her arms and turning back to my dad. I was suddenly hit with an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety so powerful it almost knocked me off my feet, but along with it I had the feeling that I needed to keep it covered. I couldn't let it show. I felt like my chest was going to burst, like my lungs were having trouble taking in oxygen, but I just had to push through it- I don't know why, but I _had_ to.

Suddenly, Pepper's phone rang. She quickly answered it, holding it with both hands. "Clint-" She started. I could hear Clint on the other hand, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. "Yes, he made it home." She said, "He's out cold now, what-" She started again but he cut him off. She looked over at me, and then left the room for privacy. I stood there, staring at my fathers limp body, the overwhelming fear and anxiety subsiding slightly.

I sat on the corner of his bed, just staring at him, not knowing what else to do. The silence that coated the room was numbing. "I could do it, you know." I mumbled, "I could be an avenger. I could do anything. I've been through a lot, and I _am_ strong. I'm not a weak little girl." I sucked in a long breath, "but I would never want to do it without you. So, you have to be okay. You can't die. I don't want to be in this world alone anymore. I just found you- really found you. I don't want you to go away. I love you. You're _my_ dad, and I don't want to lose you."

There was no answer, only silence. "Hey sweetie." Pepper said as she entered the room, "Your dad is going to be fine. He just needs some rest. I promise, if anything happens I will make sure you know."

I nodded my head again at her, "Shouldn't he go to the hospital?" I asked.

She sighed, "As much as I would like to say yes, no, he shouldn't. He should have gotten treatment at the tower, but he is stubborn. Jarvis will watch his vitals, past that, I will watch him. I think he just has a concussion and that wound, but it's really not deep."

I nodded, then fidgeted. "Do I have to sleep in my room?" I asked, "Could I stay here too?"

She gave me a gentle smile. "Of course." I crawled next to her at the foot of the bed, so that way there was no chance of us bumping my dad. Surprisingly, I didn't feel uncomfortable laying next to her. I liked Pepper. I thought of her as my friend- I felt like she had my back. I knew she thought I was asleep when she started crying silently and shaking. At first, I didn't do anything, but I couldn't just let her cry in silence. I moved closer to her and hugged her.

"It's going to be okay." I whispered into the dark.

She hugged me back and continued to cry, "It's so hard having him do this, Ruby. That's why I can't blame him even a little for him not wanting you to do this."

"Why do you let him then?" I asked.

"He is his own person, this is what he does, what he feels he has to do, I can't just tell him he can't." She said, then I felt the realization wash over her, "and you are his daughter. I can't say I am surprised you feel the same way. However, you are just a child-"

"Pepper, we don't need to argue over this. Not tonight." I said.

"Thanks." She replied. We fell asleep in a hug.

I felt nudging on my shoulder I opened my eyes to see light in the room. Pepper had scooted away, and we had our backs to each other. My dad was sitting up, his face was pale, and black underlined his eyes. "Are you okay?" I whispered as I blinked to clear my vision.

"Yeah, I'm alright." He whispered back. "Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay." I whispered, "We were worried about you though."

"You don't need to worry about me. But thanks for taking care of me. I know I was pretty… mean... last night. I'm sorry for that."

"It's okay." I replied.

I felt Pepper stir and sit up beside me. Her eyes immediately went to Tony, "Your snoring is getting out of control. It was so bad Ruby thought there was an earthquake and came in here to sleep. It brought a whole new meaning to sawing logs, because look, it actually cut me!" My dad quickly said before she could say anything.

She laughed, his goal was accomplished. It was a small laugh, and she tried to stifle it, but it was definitely there. I slid out of bed, wanting to give them their own time. I wandered down to the kitchen, but could immediately feel something was off. Something about the house didn't feel right. "Jarvis" I whispered into the dark room.

"Jarvis is disabled right now." I had never heard the voice before. A guy stepped forward, his eyes were an eerie white color, his face was pale and his hair blue. He was tall and so thin. I stepped back, afraid to scream and also confused as to what was happening. "Oh no, don't run." His voice was monotone. He raised his hands, electricity snapping between his fingers.

"Don't you wanna play with us?" This voice came from behind me. I spun on my heel, and directly behind me stood a massive woman. Her head was shaved, and she bore scars on her face, "You're daddy didn't want to play with us anymore either." She said.

Anger and fear flared in me. I turned back to the man, who had inched himself closer. I jammed my heel into his foot, because I knew it would do no good to shove it into shreks foot. As I did it I let out a blood curdling scream. I pushed passed the guy and ran past him, but there were more of them. One wore all black and could transport herself and any one she had a hold of, I know this because as I ran around a corner, she grabbed me and transported us back into the middle of them. "The hard way it is." She said.

Suddenly my dad was there, shielding me. I turned so my back was to his back. I saw Pepper run from their room towards the basement- where several of the suits were. We were surrounded. The big one came at me. Suddenly, a charge went through my body, as she came to grab me, and the other guy came at my dad, I was no longer in control. A pink ball surrounded my hand as I brought it back, and then with all the strength I had, and some I didn't even know I had, it made contact with her jaw. To my extreme surprise, she fell back. All eyes were on me, except for my dad who had missed it, but then I saw it, his suit was flying at us. I ducked as it quickly engulfed him. Suddenly, the transporter had me, and then we were outside. "You're a mutant?!" She snapped.

"What?! No!" I yelled as I yanked away from her.

She began creating a black mass, "You can stay in the middle until we handle this." I again lost control of my body. The pink orb that had surrounded my hand now surrounded her, and she couldn't leave it. "What the hell are you?!" I suddenly knew how to control it. I whipped the ball by an invisible string, whipping it over my head and slamming it on the ground, then whipping it back over my head and repeating the motion until she laid motionless. I was suddenly exhausted. The ball disappeared and I was no longer steady on my feet. I looked to see the rest of the Avengers landing the plane. Peter shot a web, wrapping it around me and then pulling me to him and setting my in the plane. "How bad are you hurt?" He asked as he put a tissue to my nose.

"I… I don't think I am." I said, but the world that rapidly spun around me said otherwise.

"These are the people who attacked us last night. Bruce and Natasha are still pretty hurt." He said, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"My dad is still in there! He needs help! Help him!" I begged.

Peter nodded and ran from the plane. I leaned my head back, it pounded profusely. The world spun so fast around me. It wasn't long and blackness quickly consumed me.

I woke up to Thor setting me into a chair. As I looked around I could see Peter and Pepper helping my dad into the plane, Clint following behind with a man I did not recognize. "Stay awake." Thor said as he closed the door to the plane. I tried to sit myself up straight, but my head just continued to pound and spin.

"Easy, it's okay." Peter said as he was suddenly at my side. "Did you hit your head? Do you remember what happened?"

I went to answer him, tell him about the pink orb that I produced, that protected me, but I shut my mouth, and shook my head no. "Let me go, let me see Ruby!" I suddenly heard my dad bark, and Peter turned to look at him, then got up and moved back, and my dad took his place, nearly falling over as he knelt down. "You alright, kid?" He asked as he gently touched my face.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. What happened to the big one and the transporter one?" He asked.

I pretended to think on it, knowing good and well that I could tell him every detail of what happened, then I shrugged. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. You're not looking so hot though, what happened?" He asked as he wiped blood from my chin.

"I don't remember." I said, my head pounding harder and harder, "Why are they after us?"

This time he didn't answer. He stood up and walked to the front of the ship. It didn't take long to make it back to the tower, and as we landed it suddenly felt like I was on fire. I let out a scream as my body spasmed. Peter was already beside me, he grabbed my arm quickly, "Ruby what's wrong?!" He asked and my dad came to my side to, trying to soothe me. "Tell me what hurts Rubes." He barked like an order.

" _Fire"_ I choked out, tears streaming down my cheeks. Everything hurt, it felt like my whole body would turn to ash at any second. I couldn't breathe. My dad tried to pick me up, but Thor quickly swooped in and took me from him, and then blackness consumed me. However, it wasn't pain free, I still felt like my body was on fire. I couldn't escape it. My insides even burned. The amount of fear that filled me was like something I had never felt before.


	17. Chapter 17

I tried to block the images from the fight out of my mind.

The twisting of Hulks limbs until his breaking point without anyone even touching him.

Natasha getting shocked until we couldn't even be sure that she was alive.

Thor's hammer turned against him- turned against us all.

We were defeated- no doubt about that. It was a wonder we weren't all dead. They _chose to leave us alive_. There was no doubting that either, we were completely beat and at their mercy, but they turned back. We wouldn't have made it long enough for our back up to arrive. In those moments, I thought about Ruby. I thought about how she would be parent-less again- an orphan. I thought about Pepper, and how she would feel obligated to keep Ruby, and would never be able to move forward from me while she was there. I thought about everything that would happen to both of them, how they would be expected to move forward with the legacy, how Ruby would fight to avenge me no matter how hard anyone tried to stop her. I wondered what would happen to Peter- what would happen to the rest of the world? I fought harder with every thought, but it would all be in vein if they hadn't decided to let us live.

We just kept Natasha and Bruce alive the whole way back. None of us discussed the major loss. The infirmary quickly took them, and we all opted out of getting examined- they needed to keep all of their attention on the two who were badly injured.

"Sir" Peter's voice broke through all of our thoughts as we sat in the infirmary waiting room, "Don't ever ask me to stay behind again."

We all looked at him, "Kid… You being there, it wouldn't-" I started.

"It might have. It could have made all of the difference." He cut me off, "Never ask me to do that again, because I won't." He had never stood up to me before, and I didn't have anything left in me to continue the conversation. I knew I was no use there, and I knew they would call me with any updates. Without saying a word, I stood up, the pain making itself more than known. I could feel the blood from an injury trickling down my side. My head spun.

"Where are you going, Tony?" Clint called after me, but I didn't reply.

Despite my best judgement, I climbed in the driver's seat of my car, which brings me back to the present. I don't know how long I sat in my driveway, not confident enough to pull the car into the garage. I opened the door, and fell onto the ground. The world spun around me. I pushed myself up, determined to make it inside. I was quiet coming through the door, but I still woke Ruby.

"Dad, what happened?!" She gasped when she came around the corner as I was struggling to get my shoes off.

 _No, don't worry. You're safe. I will keep you safe._ "I'm alright, Ruby. Everybody is alright." I quickly said, desperate for her to not worry.

"Let me help you." She quickly said as she approached me, "Who did this to you?"

"It's a long story- and really _I_ don't know who they were. None of us do. Peter is the only one who has seen them before, they were the ones that did that to him." I was hesitant to say anything to her, "But you don't need to worry Ruby, we will handle this. You are safe. Peter is safe too, we left him at the tower for eyes."

"I could help you." She quickly said, so desperate to be in the fight, "Let me help you. All of you went and faced them and look at you. You need more help."

"Ruby, this isn't up for discussion. Not now, not ever. You will never be an Avenger, you will be a normal person. I will make sure you never are, and I don't want to hear anymore about it! Do you understand me?!" I was furious at the thought of losing her, but I don't know why I yelled at her. My thoughts- none of them were straight. I couldn't sort through them, it was like wading through tar. Her face looked hurt at first, but I _saw_ her push it away.

"I just want to help you get to bed." She said, her voice much softer

"I can get myself to bed." I snapped, then began trying to go before hurting her more. I didn't realize that she followed me until my head started spinning so fast and pounding so much I couldn't walk anymore. As I fell to the ground, I felt her grab me, guiding me down so I didn't slam into the floor.

"You're bleeding. This doesn't look good, I think we should take you to a hospital." She said, and I realized I had bled through my shirt. I don't remember clearly what happened, but I remember trying to get back up, and blackness swallowing me whole. I fought back to the light, but I was in and out of it, I could feel my body moving, but it wasn't because of me.

When I finally woke up, I was lying in my own bed. Some of my strength had come back to me. I sat up some, just enough to see two lumps at the foot of the bed- Ruby and Pepper. I used my foot to nudge Ruby. Her eyes flicked open, she blinked as they adjusted to the light. She looked over at me, "Are you okay?" She asked, her voice meek and child like.

"Yeah, I'm alright." I said, whispering. "Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay." She whispered a reply, "We were worried about you though."

"You don't need to worry about me. But thanks for taking care of me. I know I was pretty… mean... last night. I'm sorry for that." It wasn't fair of me to act like I did, no matter the circumstances.

"It's okay." She replied.

Pepper sat up, her eyes immediately went to me, "Your snoring is getting out of control. It was so bad Ruby thought there was an earthquake and came in here to sleep. It brought a whole new meaning to sawing logs, because look, it actually cut me!" I said, my main goal being just to see her smile, and she did, even though she tried to hide it, she laughed. Ruby got up, and Pepper crawled closer to me.

"You scared the hell out of us. What were you thinking, driving home in that shape?" She asked.

"I needed to be here. I couldn't sit there anymore." I said as I pulled her closer, "but I am so sorry that I scared you." I said and kissed her cheek.

Suddenly, Ruby's screams filled the house. I jumped from the bed, I knew this wasn't an 'I'm afraid of spiders and just saw one' scream, something was seriously wrong, "Unlock the suits downstairs if you can get there safely." I ordered, pain was searing through my body. I ran into the halls, where I saw the same people I fought last night surrounding my daughter. I charged into the middle, ready to defend her as well as I could. I knew in those seconds that I would not hesitate to lay my life down for her right here, and there was a good possibility that that would happen. We were back to back, I was facing the electricity guy, and she was facing the ogre of a girl, and the one that could transport between dimensions or something was to our side- her right, my left. I wanted to soothe Ruby, tell her everything was okay, but I had no clue what to say. Suddenly, we were being charged. I felt a shock ring through my body, but just as it started it stopped. I heard a thud, but it sounded distant. I went to turn, but my suit was suddenly hooking itself to me. Good, now it was time to fight.

When I turned back, the big one was on the ground, and Ruby and the transporter were both gone. "Where is my daughter?!" I yelled.

"How the hell did she do that?!" Sparky asked.

I looked back at the ogre, _Ruby did that?_ I turned back to sparky just as he was throwing a bolt at me. I quickly took cover, shielding myself. "Tony!" Pepper yelled, she was hiding around a corner, "Tony what is happening!"

"Don't leave there Pepper! Whatever you do, stay there until I can get to you!" I knew backup had to be close, I could hear banging outside, and I thought it might be them, but why wouldn't they come in? I bolted into the kitchen, sparky on my heels. I turned the sink on, spraying him with the detachable faucet, then lifted myself off of the ground thanks to my suit. I turned the gas on the stove then bolted back out to grab Pepper. "Close your eyes, don't open them until I say to. Keep your face against me." I ordered as I picked her up, cradling her to me despite every inch of my body screaming. I flew us straight up, straight up through the roof.

I felt a weight on me, and as I turned back and looked down, I saw Peter, flapping in the wind, his web hooked to my foot. "Mr. Stark, land! We have Ruby! Land!" He screamed. I quickly changed directions, coming down. I grabbed Peter as I passed him so that way he wouldn't be hurt when we landed. Normally, the ground would split and crack underneath me, but as I landed I could barely keep myself up right.

"Get him on the ship! We are finished here!" Cap's voice caught me off guard, "I'll catch you guys at the tower!" I felt Peter and Pepper both support me, and Clint followed us, I was amazed at how weak I was. I looked back to see my house emitting smoke. Cap made sure we got onto the plane before turning back. Once the door was shut, and Thor began the takeoff, Peter quickly went to Ruby. She had a streak of blood from each nostril, her eyes were bloodshot, and her face was pale. After a few moments I had enough strength to push Clint and Pepper off of me, "Let me go, let me see Ruby!" I yelled as I pushed off of them and went to her. Her big eyes looked up to me, they were glassy but so bloodshot. "You alright, kid?" I asked as I touched her face, which was cold and clammy, clearly seeing she wasn't alright, but wanting to hear her say something.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice hoarse- raw sounding.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. What happened to the big one and the transporter one?" I asked, _did you really take out two of them by yourself, when we as a group couldn't even take out one? How?_

She thought briefly, although not completely convincing me that she really was thinking on it, and then shrugged slightly, looking confused "Are you hurt?" She asked. I knew she was worried about me just as much as I was about her.

"I'm fine. You're not looking so hot though, what happened?" I asked as I wiped some blood off of her chin, I just wanted some answers from her.

"I don't remember." She said, and I knew she wasn't being honest. She had lied about not remembering stuff before. "Why are they after us?"

I stood up, not sure how to answer her question. I didn't answer it, they were after us because I had went after them. This was my fault. I walked to the front of the plane where Thor was, "I am willing to set aside all differences between me and anybody to destroy them." I said.

"I will notify my brother." He answered, "I don't think it is necessary to tell Steve."

"I would have to agree with you. Do you think Loki will be of value?"

"Yes, Loki knows of these types of things generally speaking. Not usually with humans, but in Asgard and other galaxies, he was very informative."

"They aren't aliens, they are mutants." I said.

Thor laughed as if I was stupid, not even entertaining my comment with an answer apparently. Silence filled the plane until the tower was in view. We were landing when Ruby let out an agonizing scream. Peter was there first, he grabbed her arm as her body spasmed and she nearly slid to the floor, "Ruby what's wrong?!" He asked.

I was next, I came to the other side of her placing my hand lightly on her head, "Tell me what hurts, Rubes." I barked, trying to get her to concentrate on the question.

"Fire" She choked out, it sounded as if she was in fact inhaling smoke. As if she were really burning up.

"Ruby, what do you mean, fire?" I asked as I tried to shake her out of it. Tears streamed down her eyes, and then after several long seconds her eyes rolled back into her head. As soon as we landed, I picked her up and ran to the infirmary. I didn't think my body could do it, but it did. I knew Peter was right behind me, and Pepper wouldn't be far behind him. "I need help!" I yelled as Dr. Anderson spun around to see me bursting in, "You have to help her." I begged, thinking that after the last time she was here he would want nothing to do with either of us.

"Lay her on the bed, I need an IV and vitals." He quickly barked.

I laid her down on the bed and then looked up at him, "I don't know what happened to her, her eyes were bloodshot, she had a nose bleed and then she was screaming about fire. Her voice, it sounded as if she really were on fire." I said.

"Mr. Stark, have you thought any more about what I told you last?"

"No." I quickly responded, "but I am not crossing anything out right now."

"We don't have time to run that test, I want brain monitoring, now!" He barked.

I stepped back, letting the nurses do as they needed. Every part of me was hurting, but I was ignoring all of it. I couldn't deal with that right now, Ruby had to be top priority. As usual, it didn't take long for results to start coming back. Dr. Anderson looked confused.

"What do you know happened? Has she slept at all in the last two days?" He asked.

"We were attacked, she tried to fight, I don't think it went well for her, but two of them were unconscious and she was the only possible explanation we had. Yes, she has definitely gotten sleep. Last night not a ton, but the night before a solid 9 to 10 hours." I said.

"Her brain, it is showing absolute exhaustion." He said.

"Her temp is dangerous." A nurse said.

"Lets ice her. If she is in a state of delusion I don't want to see what her body is capable of doing to itself." Dr. Anderson said, and they quickly took her from the room.

Silence filled the room, and then I felt eyes on me. "What did he tell you last?" Clint asked.

I stared at him, unsure of what to say, unsure of what was safe. "They thought she might be a mutant." Pepper said, "however, she has shown us no reason to believe she is."

"Except maybe having taken out two of those mutants that took out two of our own, and all of us as a team couldn't take." Clint said, "You didn't get her tested when they said they thought she might be?"

"No." I said.

"What was their reasoning?" Clint asked.

"Unusual swelling on the brain- they began to think maybe it wasn't swelling." I said.

He jerked his head back in shock, "A mutant gene so strong it has visible effects on the brain?!"

I sucked in a breath, "Or it was just swelling. I asked her about it, she said no. I have had no reason to think otherwise. I believe my daughter." I snapped.

"Tony, what if Ruby doesn't know of her strange gene." Thor said.

"I would have to pass it on, do I look like a mutant?" I argued.

"Sir, it doesn't have to be apparent in the carrier. Also, if you have never been tested, it actually could be the reason you are so smart." Peter said, "Being a mutant… I… I don't think it is a bad thing."

"It's not Peter." Pepper said, knowing he was hurt and confused by everything that was happening. "There isn't a damn thing wrong with it. Everyone has powers, it's all in how you chose to use it."

"There is no sense in arguing it." Dr. Anderson said, "That swollen spot, it is gone as far as we can see. The amount of adrenaline her body produced is amazing, and it can cause this. So, she may be, but there is nothing we can do to change that. We will get her body temperature down, and then we will see if we can wake her up."

We all sat in the waiting room for around an hour when Steve came in. "I heard the kid had some trouble." He said, "Is she okay?"

"They're working on it now." I replied, "What happened to my house and the 'guests' in it?"

"Dead. All of them. The lightning bolt ignited the gas, died instantly, the unconscious big one hit her head on the way down I think, because she never got up, but she may have burned, and the transporter went in and couldn't get back out. A beam fell on her, burned her up, but I think smoke inhalation was the main cause. Your house, it's done for."

"She died from smoke inhalation while burning?" Peter asked.

"Interesting- almost like Ruby could feel that." Clint interjected.

Steve's brow furrowed in confusion, "I don't follow."

"Ruby, Tony's daughter, may be a mutant." Clint said.

"Does it really matter?" Loki's voice reminded me of what I imagined a snake would sound like if it could talk, "She's a human, just a different human. You could be a mutant for all you know. That could be why you are so good with a bow. Mutants are just the next step in evolution."

"It doesn't make her bad if she is." Pepper said.

"Just means power." Loki said, "Where is she, I would like to study her."

"You are NOT going to study my daughter!" I snapped as I shot to my feet.

"Wait, its _your_ child? You have a child? A teenage daughter? Since when." Loki hissed.

"Loki, it is not time to discuss this. You cannot study Ruby. We don't study teammates." Thor said.

"She's not a teammate either. She is just my daughter." I growled.

"Tony… If she can beat them, and we can't-" Steve started.

"I suggest you not finish that sentence." I snapped at Steve, ready to rip his and everybody else's head off. "My daughter will not walk this path. I'm taking her away from it. Her and Pepper both."

"Tony-" Pepper went to argue.

"They are safest right here, Tony. For now at least. However, you will all be happy to know, when the others realized their 3 friends weren't coming, they scattered. I think those were their only cards." Nick suddenly said as he also entered the waiting area.

"As in this is over?" Clint asked.

"For now, at least."

I sat back down in my chair, relief washing over me. I sat my face in my hands, my body still hurt all over, and exhaustion was setting in fast.

"Mr. Stark, Ruby is awake." Dr. Anderson said. "She would like to see you."

I followed him back to her room. She was crying, she look terrified. " _Dad"_ She cried as she saw me. I quickly went to her bed, sitting at her side and embracing her. "Don't cry Ruby, you are safe now." I cooed.

"Dad, what if I'm not." She said, and I pulled back quickly.

"You are, sweetheart. You are safe. They are dead."

"Really?" She asked as she sniffed.

"Yes. There was a fire, they all died in it." I said.

"I didn't kill them?" She asked.

"No, no sweetie. I did, really. I turned the gas on and sent sparky off. Everyone is safe."

She laid against me, "I'm so glad it's over" She sobbed, her throat sounding so raw still.

"I know Rubes, I know. I'm so sorry this happened. I am so sorry, but they are gone now. It is all over." I said.

As she cried into my chest, I realized that I couldn't do this to her anymore. I couldn't bring danger home to her. I couldn't risk her like this. She didn't sign up for this, and I was no longer willing to put her through this. I had to do something good for her, I had to protect her. In that moment, as I laid with her in a hospital bed and she sobbed, her skin cold from an ice bath, her skin red and blotchy from the amount of Adrenalin, I knew that Iron man was done.


	18. Chapter 18

They let me go from the infirmary on strict orders to rest, and I was more than fine with that. Our house, it was gone, not that it mattered right away, because we were going to be staying at the tower just to insure our safety. I knew what I had done, and I knew that it wasn't from Adrenalin, but I didn't know how to say the words. I knew it would make me then bad guy, the enemy.

My dad barely left my side. He blamed himself for everything. Whenever he was near, I could feel his despair, his guilt, his anger. I had no real knowledge of how to control it. I knew he had something else on his mind as well, and I knew it had something to do with Ironman, but I was afraid to bring it up. Nobody came to check on me, it was my dads orders. Peter disobeyed him, but I think he was the exception. Pepper and my dads room butted up to mine, and I had heard their sharp tones in the night when they thought I was sound asleep, but I was too afraid to ask what was wrong.

It was a week since the incident when my dad pulled me and Pepper into my room. "Listen, I have to tell you both something, and I don't want any real push-back from this. This is my choice, not either of yours. Okay?"

"If you aren't wanting push-back, I think you are talking to the wrong people." Pepper snapped.

"Enough. This is serious, and it is my choice." My dad snapped back so hard I actually flinched. Then he sucked in a deep breath and softened his tone "There will be no more Ironman. After everything that has happened, putting both of your lives in danger, and after coming face to face with the possibility of leaving you two so soon, I know I can't do it."

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Pepper burst out, "you are just walking away from all of this?!"

" _We_ are walking away from this. When we have the all clear, when we know everything is done, when it is completely safe, I will move the three of us away. We can go wherever we want to go." My dad replied.

" I don't want to go anywhere, Tony! This is our home! This is what we do! What about the others?!"

"I like it here, too." I said, "I don't want to move away."

"Ruby, this isn't up for discussion. I won't risk your life. Pepper… I have to do what is best for Ruby. I understand if you don't want to go… but I really want to be with you, I want to protect you." He said.

"I can't believe this! Ugh! I can't talk to you right now!" Pepper yelled and stomped from my room, slamming the door on the way out.

"Dad, don't do this." I begged.

"Ruby… I wish you could understand how I feel." He said, his voice low.

I _could_ feel just how he was feeling with extreme clarity. It felt like I could, in some way, read his mind. The fear he had for me and Pepper, the emptiness he was feeling when he thought about not being there for us, to see me live my life, I could feel it all. I wanted to tell him that, but I knew now was not the time. "Dad… I don't think you should jump to this right now." I said, "A lot just happened, and maybe making big decisions isn't a good thing to do right now."

"Well, there is time before we go, but don't get your hopes up on my mind changing." He said, "Why don't you get some more rest." It wasn't a question, it was an order. I no longer had any sort of say on my own life. He left me alone in my room, and I felt the hot angry tears streak my cheeks. I wasn't going to take this lying down. I flung myself out of the bed and put on street clothes. I brushed my hair out and made myself presentable, and then I snuck out of my room.

I quickly went to Peter's room where he was packing his clothes, getting ready to go home. "Peter" I said, my voice catching slightly, tears still streaking my face. "Peter everything is wrong!"

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked as he set down the shirt he was packing and walked over to me, wrapping me in a hug. His arms were the first comfort I had felt in a week. I knew it was dumb, we barely knew each other, and this wasn't some Disney movie, but I didn't know who else to trust.

"My dad, he is going to take me away. He said he is done being Ironman, and that he can't risk my life. He might even leave Pepper if she doesn't want to move with us." I sobbed.

"What?! Has he told anyone else this?" He asked, and I responded with a shake of my head, "Ruby, it's going to be okay. Right now he just wants to protect you. That's not wrong of him, he will come to his senses."

"Peter… I can't leave. I don't want to, but I don't think it is a good idea for me to either." I said as I sucked snot back into my nose.

"What do you mean?" He asked, clearly confused, "I mean, I don't want you to go obviously. I really like you."

Every fiber in me wanted to tell him. I didn't want it to be a secret. I could feel the feelings he had for me, how they warmed my core, and I could feel his curiosity about what was wrong, but I was afraid that warm fuzzy feeling would quickly turn cold and hard if I told him. I shook my head, "I don't know." I said as I looked down to my feet, "I don't know how to feel right now, my thoughts and feelings, they are all mixed up."

He hugged me and rubbed my back gently, "It's going to be okay." He whispered. I wanted so badly to believe him, but I just couldn't. "Ruby, if you are thinking about running off, don't." His voice was stern, he meant what he was saying, "That might kill your dad, he doesn't need that now anymore than the rest of us do."

"What if… What if it was better for everyone, safer for everyone, if I wasn't here." My voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. I was the ripple here, if I had never come, this wouldn't be happening. My dad would be happy, not even considering giving it all up, him and Pepper would be fine, the tension wouldn't be here, who knows what else would be different.

"Ruby, if you had never come here, I would probably be dead. You saved me, remember? And if you weren't here, who knows what other bad things would happen. Don't think like that." Peter replied, his voice warm, but stern.

I nodded my head slowly. My chest ached, it felt like my heart was truly breaking. "I'll let you finish packing." I said, then turned and left his room. I heard him call after me, but I wouldn't turn back. I was walking for the training room, I wanted to blow off steam, when I ran right into a tall, thin man with jet black hair and piercing green eyes. "Sorry" I mumbled, and went to move forward, but he grabbed my arm and spun me back around.

"You're Stark's daughter, aren't you?" He asked, his voice was dark and attractive.

"Yes, who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Loki, Thor is my brother. Where are you going? I thought your father had you on lock down."

I was confused by his question, and alarm bells began ringing through me. "I snuck out. Why do you care?" I asked.

He looked around, looking for any people, then looked at the cameras, eyeing them. He pulled me close and bent to my ear, "You are a mutant." He whispered, "I can tell." My body went rigid and cold. He stood back up, waiting for a response, but then speaking before I could, "I won't tell anyone… at least not yet."

"Why- how-" I fumbled with my words.

"Loki!" Thor's voice boomed through the hall, making me jump, but Loki's eyes just slid up from me to Thor. I quickly turned to face him as well. His face was stern, almost angry looking. He looked me up and down, but I avoided eye contact, and then he turned his eyes back to Loki. "What is going on here?"

"Ruby here smacked right into me. Poor thing was sobbing, I was only ensuring she was okay. I wouldn't hurt a child, brother." Loki lied so smoothly it was scary.

Thor looked down to me, "Are you alright, Ruby?" He asked.

I felt Loki's eyes on me too, boring a hole into the side of my head. "I'll be fine." I said, my voice cracking as I fidgeted beneath Loki's gaze.

"Why are your eyes producing water?" Thor asked.

"It's called crying, brother. Simple words." Loki snapped, and rolled his eyes.

I cleared my throat, "I am sure you will both know why soon enough. I doubt it'll be much of a secret." I said, then pushed passed both of them, practically running to the gym. I pressed the door firmly behind me, taking long deep breaths as I tried to calm down.

"What are you doing here, kid?" Natasha's voice made me jump, my heart was pounding so hard it was making me physically sick. I spun around to see her and the guy from the plane that I didn't recognize.

"I'm sorry- I- I just needed-" I fumbled.

"Whoa, whoa, easy. It's okay, calm down." Natasha said as she moved closer to me, "What's the matter, are you okay?"

I nodded my head quickly, "I just need to blow off steam. I needed to get away." I said.

She raised her brow, but nodded, not wanting to question me. The first nice gesture she had really made to me. "Alright, why don't you train with us. Have you two met?"

I quickly shook my head no. "My name is Steve, most know me as Captain America." He said as he stuck out his hand.

I raised my brow, I knew exactly who he was. "Ruby" I said and shook it.

"Good to meet you. Why don't you go and put on one of the training uniforms."

I nodded and quickly went and changed. They let me hit the punching bag until I was exhausted, not saying a word to me, just letting me be, and then they let me keep doing it until Pepper came in. "There you are." She said, her voice soft, kind. I looked at her, fighting the urge to burst into tears at the sight of her. "Are you okay, Ruby?" She asked as she cautiously took a step closer, "You don't look okay, do you want to talk?"

I sucked in a breath as tears filled my eyes. "None of this is fair." I choked out.

"I know, but I promise, it will be okay." She said.

She was being honest, but anger still flared in me. I couldn't deal with all of the emotions I was feeling. It felt like it would crush me. "You can't promise that." I said.

"Ruby, why don't you come with me." She said as she stuck out her hand.

I could feel that strange energy soaring through my body again, threatening to unleash itself. I tried to steady my breathing- to calm down. I nodded and followed her, not saying anything out of fear that it would send me spiraling down emotionally, and everything would suddenly be even more out of my own control.

We walked in silence to the car garage. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"Shopping." She said nonchalantly, "You need a dress, and we both need to get away from this tower. We are going to swing by my old penthouse where you can grab a quick shower and I have a change of clothes for you."

I nodded my head as I climbed into her BMW. It was new and comfortable, I knew my father had bought it for her. "Won't my dad be mad when he realizes were gone?" I asked.

"Well, when he realizes you're not asleep he will be panicked and furious when he finds out I have taken you out of the tower, but if it were just me, not so much. He knows he isn't my boss." Pepper said, "but don't worry, he won't punish you for this."

An uncomfortable silence filled the car. "If he doesn't change his mind, are you going to come with us?" I asked, scared to hear the answer.

Her brows furrowed slightly. "I don't know. This is my home, Ruby. I love it here. I love your father, too, but I don't know if I can live with someone who just thinks they can up and move and just expect me to be okay with that. I don't want to leave him, or you though Ruby."

"I don't want to go without you." I said, my words barely slipping out above a whisper.

I felt her eyes on me, they were full of compassion. "Why don't we not talk about this on our day away." She put on a happy tone, trying desperately to keep things positive.

"What do you want to talk about then?" I asked.

"How about… Peter." She said, and I quickly snapped my head around to look at her, she had a smug look on her face.

"What about Peter?" I quickly asked.

"Everything about Peter! He has been desperate to see you, even breaking your father's orders. He really seems to like you."

I felt my face get red and hot. "Yeah… I really like him too. He's nice." I said.

"And cute." Pepper quickly added on. "Do you think you guys are going to be serious?"

I rubbed my arm and shifted in my seat. "Maybe." I said. "I don't know."

She pulled into a large parking garage, "This is it." She said as she pulled into a spot with her name on it. She had to put in an access code for the elevator to stop at her room. Her apartment was huge, and it looked as if it was straight from a magazine. She handed me some clothes and pointed me to the bathroom. I let the hot water run over my body, calming myself down, then I was quick to finish up, dry off and get dressed.

"That was quick." Pepper said as I walked back out into her living room, "I have a few places we can go, do you know what you want?"

"No… not really." I said, "Something to go with the theme, I guess."

"Alright, let's get this show on the road." She said with a huge smile.

The first dress shop we went to had all kinds of dresses. Different shapes, different colors, different everythings. I figured if there was a dress for me, it would be there, and when it wasn't there, I knew it would be at the next one. 5 dress shops, and what felt like 300 dresses later, we were close to giving up hope. I had tried on what felt like every dress there ever was, dresses that costed thousands and thousands of dollars. It was at a small consignment shop in the window. It caught my eye, and I insisted we go in. It shocked Pepper because it was the first dress I had found myself to try on. The old woman at the counter was also the owner. She told us how it was handmade. I couldn't help but to feel her eyes boring into the back of my head.

"I can help you put it on." She offered like every other dress shop had, and I had declined, but this time I nodded in agreement.

"I wouldn't want to hurt it." I said. It was form fitting, but it felt as if it was made for me, it was emerald green. It hugged my body util around the knees where it flowed elegantly down to the ground. There was a split up the side almost to my hip. It had an illusion neckline and beautiful beading along the edges of it. I knew instantly it was the dress.

"You have a hard journey ahead of you, but I fear it is short." The woman said. Her eyes, they were glazed over, like she was in another world altogether.

"I'm sorry?" I asked. I realized I could not feel anything that she felt.

She put her hand to her head, blinking several times. "Oh… You look beautiful." She said.

"What did you say?" I whispered, "The first time."

She pressed her lips together, then shook her head, "I'm sorry." She said, then opened the curtain and gestured for me to step out. I hesitated, but let it go. I walked out and Pepper gasped.

"You look so beautiful! It's like it was made for you!" She giggled. "Is this the dress?" She asked me.

"Yes, definitely." I said.

"How much?" Pepper asked.

The old woman stared at me, as if she were looking through me, I could tell she was back in the other world, but Pepper didn't really seem to notice.

"$500." She finally said.

Pepper gave her 3,000 for the dress. Insisting it was worth so much more than 500 and she didn't want to feel like she was ripping her off. She thanked her profusely, then bagged the dress up nicely for us. I wanted to so badly ask her what she had said before, but now she wouldn't even look me in the eyes. As we were walking out, I turned to see her staring at me one last time, then Peppers phone ringing had me spinning my head.

"Crap… It's your dad." She said, and then answered. "Hello?" I could hear him freaking out on the other line. "Tony… Tony, I have Ruby! She didn't run off. I took her dress shopping." Screaming insured. "She is fine! Both of us are fine! Yes, we are coming back right now!" She quickly pulled it away from her ear. "Come on Ruby, it's time to face your father."

The ride home was silent. I carried my dress inside, my heart pounding furiously in my chest. I was terrified of what he would say to say the least. We walked into my room and he was there, he had clearly been pacing back and forth. "Finally! There you two are! Do you know how worried I have been!" He was screaming, his hands were shaking. I was slammed with his anger as soon as we walked in.

"Tony, calm down. We needed to get out, she needed a dress, she was with me the whole time, she was perfectly safe. We both were." Pepper said trying to stay calm.

"Ruby, I told you to stay in here, to rest, I can't believe you would directly disobey me like that!"

"Tony, we aren't prisoners!" Pepper finally snapped, "You need to stop treating us like we are!"

The emotions were too much. I quickly began stepping back and out of the room. I dropped my dress and ran. The energy that was soaring through me was too much. All of it hit me like an agonizing sadness. I couldn't deal with my own emotions, let alone everyone else's.

I found myself on the roof. I looked over the city, letting everyone else's emotions leave my body. "Ruby?" Peters voice hit me just as his emotions did. His emotions were something I needed, like a breath of fresh air. I turned to see him standing there, his mask off, his eyes full of concern for me.

I wanted to say something to him, to just say hi, but I couldn't bring words to come. Instead, I just flung myself into his arms. He wrapped me in a warm hug as I breathed him in. "What's going on?" He asked.

"My dad and Pepper, they're fighting. She took me out to get a dress for the dance, and he is just really mad." I said as I pulled away. "I'm really glad I met you. I just want you to know that."

"I'm really glad I met you, too, Ruby." He said with a cheesy grin. "What color is your dress?"

"Green. Emerald green." I said "It's perfect." My thoughts ran back to the woman at the shop, what she had said to me, and then suddenly I was hit with emotions so strong they were projecting images.

"Ruby, what's wrong?" Peter asked as I gripped my head.

"I don't know." I said as searing pain shot itself through my head repeatedly. I felt his hand on my shoulder, like he was making sure I wouldn't fall.

"What's happening to her?" I heard Loki's familiar voice, and even through the hot pain it sent a cold shiver down my spine.

"I- I don't know." Peter said.

I felt Loki push Peter away and grip both of my shoulders, "Tell me what it is Ruby." He ordered, but I couldn't make out any of the images. They were so blurred. I knew some of the faces, the Avengers, but there were some I didn't know either. Then, I saw my own face. Bloody and beaten, but not defeated, I wore a tight suit with the Avengers logo on it. Then, just as quickly as I saw it, it all disappeared. I looked into Loki's eyes, then shook his hands off of me.

I looked at Peter, who still looked terrified. I had to tell him, I had to tell him now. I didn't know why, but I did. I went to, but Loki quickly interrupted, "I think we should get you back inside. I heard you have a lot to deal with, that on top of you already recovering can cause bad side effects. You should rest." He said.

Peter cut in between us, and took my hand into his own. "I'll walk you inside."

"I don't want to go back in there." I said.

"You need to, Ruby. Besides, I have to go home." He said. I pressed my lips into his, enjoying it for a sweet second before we parted. He smiled his cheesy grin again. Just as we walked back in, my father was about to walk out.

"There you are." He said, his voice was still angry. "Lets go."

He basically drug me back to my room. He was silent. "Why is your first instinct to run away?" He asked.

"Well, it's fight or flight and I would never fight you." I said, "I didn't want to hear you two scream at each other, and I didn't want to get screamed at."

"Ruby… I was scared to death when you weren't here. I thought they may have found a way to take you. I was terrified." He said, and gently brushed hair out of my face.

"I didn't want to scare you, but I feel trapped in this room. When Pepper asked me to go dress shopping, I didn't think it would be a big deal. Really, I didn't. If felt good to get out. Please, don't be mad at her either."

"I'm not mad at either of you." He said as he took a long breath and sat next to me, "I'm mad at myself. I'm mad I couldn't protect you two like I should have been able to. I'm scared for both of you too, and it's all my fault. I shouldn't have taken it out on you two." He said, then gently kissed the side of my head. "Just bear with me kid. It's gonna get better."

I nodded my head and leaned on his shoulder. "I'm not mad at you." I said, barely above a whisper, "I'm not scared either. You can't blame yourself or live in fear."

He didn't say anything. Just squeezed me gently from the side. "Why don't you go ahead and get some rest. You look exhausted." It wasn't an order this time. I nodded my head, and he left me alone in my room. I laid back, closing my eyes, trying to sort through all my thoughts until sleep finally found its way to me.


	19. Chapter 19

Pepper helped me into the dress, she helped me with my hair and makeup, she found me shoes, but the emerald green high tops I found could not be beat, and black satin gloves with tiny crystals lining the edge. I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked absolutely stunning. Every part of me looked perfect.

"You look beautiful, Rubes." My dad's voice from the doorway caught me off guard.

I continued to stare forward, not even acknowledging him. I brushed my hair back out of my eyes, trying to forget our earlier fight. It was the same fight we had already had several times in the last week. Him being Ironman, me being an avenger, us leaving. I knew that the old woman I bought my dress from could see things just like I could feel things, and I know she somehow tried to show me what she saw, and I know what I saw. I was going to be an Avenger. I would fight next to him. He couldn't give up.I would fight him until he saw it my way.

"Ruby, come on. Let's drop it for now." His voice was gentle as he stepped farther into my room.

"You could just see it my way and know that I am right." I said as I snapped my head around to look at him.

"Ruby, as far as I am concerned, you will never be an Avenger. I will make sure of it. It is way too dangerous." He said, and I could feel the annoyance building in him. I would continue to push that to the edge.

"I could be a cop you know. They fight beside you. There is nothing you can do to prevent me from that." I snapped and raised one perfectly plucked and covered brow.

He sucked in a huge breath, "I refuse to fight about this now. This is a big step, and I will not fight with you during it. I missed a lot of key moments in your life, I won't fight with you on the ones I get to experience with you."

Suddenly the anger I had for him dissolved. I didn't want to push it- at least not tonight. "Okay." I said. There was a knock at the door before he could say anything else. He stuck his arm out for me to take, and I was quick to wrap my arm around his bicep and let him guide me. We had moved up to his old "Office home" that was like a penthouse until we left or our home was fixed. It had been used for storage, but they quickly cleaned it out so we could get out of our "tiny hotel style rooms" as Pepper labeled them. Peter stood at the end of the small set of stairs that my dad walked me down. He was pale, but when he saw me a big smile quickly went across his face, he looked perfect. Butterflies quickly started flapping around in my stomach and the air left my lungs. I smiled a huge smile at him.

"Mr. Stark, good to see you are alive." I hadn't noticed the woman standing next to him.

"Aunt May… Good to see you." My dad said.

"Ms. Parker is fine, thanks. I have been trying to reach you for over a month. My nephew takes off to help you for weeks on end and you can't even bother to respond to a call, or even an email. Then when he comes home, he has a girlfriend- _Your daughter_."

"Well, Ms. Parker, that last part I was also against. Believe me. However, I take full responsibility for not getting back to you. I just entered fatherhood… With a 16 year old daughter."

Her face relaxed a little. "Then you should understand the worry I had. If it weren't for the fact that this will send him through college, I don't think he would be working for you anymore, Mr. Stark."

My dad sucked in a deep breath, "Peter has earned that scholarship, if that is really how you feel, then so be it."

Me and Peter both shot our looks up to him. Silence fell on the room and Peter looked up to Aunt May. "We'll talk about it later, Peter, why don't we get you two to the dance." She said, her voice now soft.

Peter had gotten us beautiful masquerade masks. We put them on and took beautiful pictures together, we were on our way out of the tower when I realized I forgot my purse. I was almost back to my room when Loki appeared, my purse in hand. "You look lovely in green." He purred. I snatched my purse from his hands quickly, "I don't know what your fascination with me is, but it's weird." I snapped, and stomped away. I met back up with Peter, pushing Loki out of my head, and aunt May drove us to the school in silence.

We had just met up with his friend, Ned, and had barely started talking when Peters alarm started going off. "Shoot… I'm sorry." He said then turned to Ned, "Please, keep Ruby company."

"Peter, take me with you!" I begged.

"I'm sorry, Ruby, I can't." He said and took off to an empty part of the school, but I followed him. "Ruby, please, don't do this. Enjoy the party."

"No Peter, I am not staying while you go. I don't even know anyone here!" I said.

"Then take a cab home." He said as he came out, and quickly kissed me. "But you are not coming." He said, "Make sure she stays safe." I hadn't even noticed Ned had followed us. Then he pulled his mask down and was gone.

I stormed past Ned in the same direction Peter had went, but it was all in vein, he was long gone without a trace. I did call a cab, but not to go home, but to where we had our first date. It was dark by the time I got there. Tears made the makeup I wore streak my face. I paid the cab and went to the end of the abandoned buildings, they overlooked a beat down pier. I carefully walked out on it, sitting down to look up at the stars. "This is stupid." I said out loud to myself. "I could be there, helping them. I should be. Yet, here I am, alone on a pier that I had to get myself to." The moon began to shine brightly, making my dress sparkle in its light. "Why the hell did I come here?"

"It's like you knew I would come here." Peters voice made me jump. I quickly turned around, staring it him. He looked exhausted, somewhat beat. "I figured you would never forgive me for leaving you there for this. I thought I had blew my chance."

"Of course not." I said, my voice barely above a whisper, "I know it's what you have to do, all I care about is that you are okay."

"I'm okay." He said, and then he put his hand out to me, helping me to my feet. "We could still dance." He said, and gave me a crooked smile. I smiled back, nodding my head, "I would really like that." I said. He pulled me close, and I put the masquerade mask on. There was no music, but we stayed in perfect rhythm to the waves crashing against the shore. He spun me around, I stepped on his feet, but he never said a word about it. "Listen, Peter, I need to talk to you." I said as I pulled back from him slightly to look in his eyes.

"Okay." He said, then grabbed my hand and took me to the building we had spent time under the stars under last time, he quickly lifted us up there, we were staring up at the stars once again. "What do you need to talk to me about?" He asked.

I bit my lip as I tried to put what I wanted to say in the order that I wanted to say it. "Peter, is there anything that could ever make you hate me?" I asked.

"No." He said immediately. "I could never hate you."

"Really?" I asked as I sat myself up a little farther.

"Really." He said, "What is it?"

I opened my mouth to tell him, when suddenly a loud laughed boomed near us. Making the web shake. "Looky here, the bug led us right to the girl!" A woman called out.

" _No."_ Peter whispered as he went to grab me, but suddenly the web was broke in between us, and I was falling, screaming. "Ruby, no!" He yelled as he shot a web towards me. I reach my arm out for it, and I almost had it when suddenly the pink orb surrounded me. It entrapped the web, leaving me swinging in the ball like I was trapped in a wrecking ball between the two huge buildings.

"What the hell is that?" A young male asked. His eyes were black, and wings were sticking up from his back. "Dark force?"

"No." The girl said nonchalantly as more mutants came forward. I looked up at Peter, who was thoroughly shocked.

"Lightforce?" another girl asked.

"Nah, I don't think so." She said as she angled her head. I started willing the ball to swing, and it did. Just as the one with wings bagan coming at me, I broke through the windows of one of the building, crashing into it. The ball dissolved and I rolled until I hit the other window on the other side. I quickly stood up, ready to fight, but I was alone. I heard Peter let out an agonizing scream and I ran back to the window just to see his limp body falling past. I shot the pink energy from my hand, catching him in it right before he hit the ally floor. I quickly laid him further back, at the end of the ally, leaving him in the protective orb, then I made a flat disk shape out of the pink orb, and I stood on it, letting it lower me to the ground. "You guys need to leave." I growled.

One of them could shoot fire from their hands, I was quick to not just deflect it, but send it shooting back, hitting them square in the chest with it. "Very interesting" The one with the loud laugh said.

"I don't want to fight you." I said, barely keeping my voice steady.

"Fight us? Honey, you are _one_ of _us._ You should be joining us." She said, stepping forward. "We will forgive you killing our friends. We will even let your little boyfriend live... For now. Do you think he, or any of your little crew will accept you once they see what you are? _You're the monster they're fighting._ "

I looked back at Peter, who was just starting to come to. " _I could never hate you."_ His words rang through my head. "This is your last warning." I growled again as I turned back to them.

To say they didn't hold back was an understatement. I couldn't really do anything but deflect their blows. Blood leaked from my nose, but I wouldn't give up. Every fireball, every ice chunk and super sonic blow, it shook me and shoved me back, tearing the pavement as I was pushed back, but my shields remained strong and intact. They would stand strong for as long as I could.

Hulk was the first one to arrive. He slammed into one of them, crashing with them into one of the buildings, but then they turned on him. Peter was back in the fight, trying to take some of the heat off of me. The supersonic laugh girl turned to me, an evil grin across her face. One of them had superspeed, he was quick to throw the hulk off. One of them could stretch, and he was quick to capture Natasha. The one with telekinesis quickly threw Thor off. Another one who could control electricity began disabling Clint and Steve. The one with the wings grabbed the angry and burned one who could throw fire. I realized then what was about to happen. "NO!" I screamed as I threw my arms out, my pink ball of whatever it was attacking the enemy, grabbing them and quickly disabling several of them. Suddenly, they were all screaming, and the free ones ran. Blood dripped from my nose as I kept them disabled.

"Quick, put the collars on them!" Nick yelled. People dressed in black along with the Avengers were snapping the collars on them.

"You can let them go, Ruby. They can't hurt anyone with those on." My dad's voice came from behind me. It was soft and gentle. I let them go and turned so I could face him, but my eyes were still on everyone else too, like a cornered animal. "It's okay Ruby." My dad said, barely above a whisper, "You're okay."

I stepped back from him as he stepped closer, every one of the Avengers watching my every move. "I'm not a monster." I said, my voice trembling.

"We know that, Rubes. We don't think you're a monster." My dad said, not moving towards me this time, "I know you're scared."

"I can't help it." Tears were streaking my face. "I didn't ask for this." I could feel all of their judgement on me. I knew some of them felt like I was a monster.

"Ruby, we would never let anything bad happen to you." Peter said, I focused on everything he was feeling. It was still fuzzy and warm, "You saved my life twice. You're not one of them."

"What if I can't control it?" I snapped as I took another step back.

"I think you already have been, kid." Natasha said. I turned to look at her, her face was gentle, she was full of compassion.

"Ruby, come here. I will take you home. I won't let anything happen to you. I promised you that, and I intend to keep it." My dad said. I was thinking about it when a stray mutant came out of nowhere, lunging off the top of the building I had crashed through weilding a black mass similar to what I could manifest. I used my pink mass to attack back. We hit each other mid air, but our power clashing together was so strong in caused a ripple that caused the ground to shake. We both were flung back several feet after the powerful impact. I smacked my head on the corner of the other building. Pain soared through my body. I looked up- I recognized the guy- but from where? I put my hand to the back of my head, it was covered in blood. I laid my head back down, and then my dad was over me. "You're okay, Ruby, you're okay." He said as he ripped the masquerade mask off my head.

"I'm sorry." I said.

"Shhhh, shhh baby, you have nothing to be sorry for." He said as he picked me up. "Can you guys clean up here?" He asked. I looked over at the destroyed buildings, the ally way pavement was basically ripped up from where I had stood my ground and my shield ripped it up as I was pushed back. The road was full of huge holes, the nearby trees destroyed, trees and bushes in flames. I hadn't even realized how much destruction we had caused.

"You go! We got this!" Nick yelled.

Peter and my dad took me to the Tower. By the time we got there, I was feeling better. "I think I'm okay." I said as we went inside.

"You hit your head pretty hard." My dad said.

"I know, but I really think I'm okay." I said.

I looked over at Peter, who was bloody and beaten. "You still need to be looked at." Peter snapped. He was angry- not at me, but at himself.

They laid me on a bed, but I was quick to set up. Dr. Anderson came in to examine me, "You have quite the healing ability, do you know that?" He asked, "I've known for a little while."

"I figured as much. I thought my brain might be cracked at first, but now I feel almost fine." I said.

"It is definitely more prominent when you are using your abilities, I will say that." He replied. "I am glad to see you are okay though."

"You should check on Peter." I said.

"I already have someone starting that." He said with a smile, "So, let me focus a bit more on you. Do you have a headache at all?"

"Yeah, a little bit." I said as he shined a light in my eyes.

"Dizzy at all?" He asked as he looked at the back of my head again.

"No, it stopped before we even got back to the tower." I replied.

"Nausea?" He asked.

"No." I replied.

"Tenderness?" He asked as he pushed where the injury had been.

"Yes, some!" I yelped as he pressed too hard on a too tender spot.

"Sorry." He mumbled, "I will make you a deal, if you promise that if you experience any dizziness, nausea, sudden headaches, or unexplained drowsiness, that you will get your dad, or Pepper, or any one who is in the room with you to bring you straight back here, or if no one is there just call the infirmary and start coming this way and someone will meet you halfway to escort you, I will release you."

"I promise!" I said, anxious to leave. He quickly moved out of my way so I could stand up. "We will need to do other tests, as I am sure you can assume. However, that is something for another time. Your dad is in the waiting area, I recommend heading there."

Suddenly, I felt dizzy and nauseous. I sucked in a large breath and turned towards the glass doors. My dress, that perfect dress I had found, was ripped and torn and filthy. It had several burn marks, and it had black up the back from where I hit the pavement, and a few bloodstains too. My shoes were destroyed, holes in the sole from where they grinded on the pavement. I looked like a disaster. I sucked in another large breath, going passed the glass doors and making my way to the waiting room. My dad sat there, Pepper sitting next to him, both pale and looking distraught. _Looking terrified._ I almost turned back, ran from here, but as I took in a deep breath, I knew this wasn't a time for flight. I closed my eyes, concentrating. I was right, they were terrified; however, not of me, but for me, and for Peter too.

I stepped through the waiting room doors and both of their eyes shot up to mine. "Ruby!" My dad said as he shot to his feet, closely followed by Pepper. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah dad, I'm okay. They let me go." I said.

He quickly grabbed me, embracing me. He held me for several long moments before pulling away from the hug, but still tightly squeezing my shoulders. "When we realized that Peter was followed and that you weren't here and weren't still at the dance, you have no idea how terrified I was. We came for you as fast as we could, I tapped into Peters suit and I saw you fall, and then we saw him blackout. I didn't know what was happening. I thought for sure that we would be too late."

"I'm really okay." I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

"And I am so thankful for that." He said.

"So… You guys… You don't… You don't hate me, or anything?" I could feel the tears filling my eyes. I didn't understand, not completely. I was one of the monsters that they were fighting.

"Rubes… We could never hate you." My dad said, his eyes full of sympathy.

"Ruby, honey, this isn't some sort of punishment for anything you have done. You were born this way. You can't help it. There isn't anything wrong with you, this is just _you._ " Pepper said as she stepped closer to me, "We don't hate you, and we aren't afraid of you either."

"We will need to have further discussion, but I think enough is enough for tonight." My dad said, "First, though, Peter is getting checked out, I think you should go and see him. I need to call his Aunt anyways. I have missed several calls from her."

I walked out of the waiting room and back into the infirmary. I found him quickly, he had been cut up pretty bad from broken glass and was getting stitches as well as being treated for a head injury. "Hey" I said as I walked in, my voice shaking slightly.

His eyes shot up to me, "Hey," He said back, his voice barely above a whisper, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Are _you_ okay?" I asked. I could see that he wasn't. I could feel it too.

He shrugged his shoulders and looked away from you. "I couldn't protect you." He said, then reach into his pocket and pulled out my masquerade mask, "You could've been killed because of me." He said as he extended his arm to give it to me. In those quick moments, I couldn't help but remember some of our first interactions, and how I had held his mask for him while he was in the infirmary, and I had been the one worried about letting him die.

"For starters," I started as I took the mask from him, and started looking it over "I don't need to be protected. I think I proved that. Even if I couldn't, it isn't your _job_ to keep me safe." I pulled my eyes from the mask up to his big puppy dog eyes, "Secondly, you aren't at fault. It could have just as easily been my dad that led them to me. In fact, if you will recall, it was him the first time around. You didn't know, and I don't think there was really any way you could have known. Thirdly, you can't put everything on your shoulders."

"Ruby, I want it to be my job to protect you, to keep you safe." Peter said, almost snapping at me.

"No. We are equals. I'm not some sort of job, or some little delicate fairy that needs to be protected, or a princess that needs saving. Equals. I can protect myself just like you can protect yourself. We just have eachothers back." I said, never breaking eye contact.

We stared each other down for several minutes before Peter let out a sigh and ran his hand over his face. "Okay." He mumbled. I stepped closer to him and gave him a peck on the cheek. "You get better, spiderman." I whispered to him.

I turned to walk away, but he grabbed my hand quickly. "Ruby…" He started, then furrowed his brow. "I- I'm really glad you saved me that night. I mean- I'm glad it was you."

"Me too, Peter." I said, and gave him a crooked smile.

Just then, my dad walked in. "Peter, your aunt May is actually more pissed than she was at me earlier. Yeah, I really didn't think it could go any worse than it did either. However, I told her we were keeping you safe here, and that was why you both weren't at the school, that we didn't want any loose ends. So, she will be here tomorrow to come pick you up." My dad said as he rubbed his face.

"Don't worry Mr. Stark, I'll talk to her." Peter said.

"Thanks kid. Well, you need rest, my daughter isn't going to be resting in the same room as you, and she also needs rest. So, I'm also taking her. Call if you need anything." My dad said and began guiding me out, "Call me if you need anything. Just to clarify."

"Thanks, Mr. Stark." Peter said as we left the room.

My dad waited right outside while I showered and cleaned up, terrified to leave me alone for too long. He tucked me into bed, and then just sat there, staring at me. "Dad… This is weird." I finally said.

"I'm sorry." He said, and looked away, furrowing his brow "There's just so much I have to say, and I don't know where to begin or how to even say any of it."

I sat up, "What do you mean?" I asked.

He sucked in a long breath, "I don't want to fight… but I think, at least for right now, that it would be best if we took you away. I was thinking Montana, or Oregon, or something like that. Alaska if we have to. Just off the grid. You can see what you can do, and you can do it safely."

"Dad, what, no!" I yelled, "I can't leave. I am the only one who can help you with these mutants, this should show you, I should be an Avenger!"

"Ruby, I'm not saying you should or shouldn't be. I am still against it, but I know what valid points you have. You know that they were after you. Not me anymore, not Peter, not any of us, they went right after _you_. My goal, my only goal, is to keep you safe. We don't have to leave for forever, but I think, maybe just for a few months, that off the grid is good. Think about everything more we can see with what you can do if we aren't here, in the city, if you don't have to worry about the press stalking you."

"What if things go really bad here? Then what?" I asked.

"Then we will come back." My dad said, "I promise."

I opened my mouth, but then suddenly Nick Fury was standing in my doorway, "Sorry to interrupt, but we have a situation with Spidey." He said.

I jumped out of my bed and followed closely behind them. No one said anything on the way down, but I could feel that Peter wasn't in any danger, he was okay. As soon as the elevator doors opened to the infirmary floor, I could hear May's screams.

"You stay away from me! Don't you ever come back!" My heart sank at her sharp, cruel words.

"Oh shit…" My dad said as he began sprinting down the hall, me and Nick following closely behind.

"YOU! Did you do this to him?!" I heard her scream.

"Ms. Parker, no, we did nothing to him, but please, don't do this. Peter, he is a good kid, and this, it doesn't change anything." My dad pleaded.

"Oh it changes everything! He is your responsibility now! He is not to come near me!" She screamed.

The look on Peters face, the tears that streaked his cheeks, they killed me. My heart broke for him. "Ms. Parker, if you leave this building and you try to say anything about Peter's identity, we will come for you." Nick barked.

"Nick, you are not helping." My dad growled as he threw his hand up, gesturing for him to stop.

"No, that's fine. None of you ever come near me. None of you!" She yelled as she stormed out.

My dad turned from the door she just walked out back to Peter. "Kid… She… She will come around." My dad said, his voice soft and gentle.

Peter couldn't reply, he just sobbed silently. I went to step closer to him, to comfort him, but Nick quickly grabbed me, sweeping me out the door, "No offense sweetheart, but right now is not the time. Trust me, he doesn't want you to see him like this, and your dad is the only one going to give him any kind of comfort. I promise you, if he asks for you, I will come and get you, but for right now, I think you should just go ahead back up to your room."

Tears streaked my face. Not because Nick kicked me out, but because the rejection he was feeling, was exactly what I had feared, what I had imagined happening with my dad and Pepper and Peter when they found out about me. As I stepped out of the elevator, Pepper quickly came to greet me, but stopped short when she saw me. I was almost hysterical.

"Oh God…" She said, her hands shaking suddenly, and her face going pale.

"No, he's alive." I said quickly between sobs, "Physically he's okay… Aunt May… She just…" I trailed off.

Her face and shoulders went from being in shock to just slumping over. "Oh no…" She said, then sucked in a big breath. She gently guided me up the stairs and to my bed. "Honey, your dad will not let anything bad happen to Peter. And just know, there is no power you can have that will ever make us disown you." She said gently as sat on my bedside.

I nodded my head as I tried to gather my composure. "Thank you." I said.

"Oh sweetie, you don't have to thank me." She said as she pushed my hair out of my face.

I nodded my head, "I love you." I said, then a hiccup bubbled past my lips.

"I love you too, Ruby." She said back, "Now, try to get some sleep."

I saw the tears in her eyes as she left my room. I knew she was also heartbroken for Peter. Part of me hoped that Nick would call, but he didn't. I was almost asleep when I heard the elevator door ring a good three hours later. I heard two people shuffling up the stairs. "You can sleep here, Peter. I'll stay here as long as you need. I promise, I won't leave" He whispered, and my heart squeezed.

My dad slept in a chair next to Peter's bed for the night. He never left his side.


	20. Chapter 20

I couldn't just leave Peter to be alone in the infirmary. I also knew he didn't want to be there. He had screamed, he threw things, he cried, and now he was silent. He looked out the glass window into the hall where the different doctors looked over a variety of things, looking in every so often just to see how things were going in here. "Peter" I finally said, "It's a big adjustment on her part, I am not saying how she acted was right, but I think she will come around. I did for Ruby when I found out she existed." He said nothing in return, he didn't even move to look at me. I let silence fall over us again, briefly. "Kid, what can I say to help you? What can I do?" My voice was barely above a whisper, I just wanted to ease some of the pain he was feeling, but I had no idea how to. Silence began to fall again. "Peter, you can stay with me as long as you need. You can come with us if we leave, and if you don't want to do that, you can stay here in the tower. I will build a home for you if you want. I promise, I will help you, I won't leave you."

"I don't want to stay in the infirmary." He said, his voice raw.

I quickly stood up, "Okay, then let's go." I said. I helped him up, he was obviously hurting and sore. He was all around beat. None of the doctors tried to stop us, I took him to the elevator and got us on our way to the apartment.

"Mr. Stark" Peter said as we rode in the elevator silently, and this time he looked up to me, looked into my eyes for the first time tonight, "will you still make sure she is okay. MAke sure she is safe."

"Of course, Peter." I said, my heart continuing to break for him.

He turned to look away from me again, but then stopped and looked back up, "I'm sorry that I lead them right to Ruby."

"Peter, don't you ever apologize. None of that is on you." I quickly said.

He turned back to face the elevator door just as it dinged. I helped him out of the elevator and up the stairs, I put him in the guest bedroom. "You can sleep here, Peter. I'll stay here as long as you need. I promise, I won't leave" I said as I got him in the bed. Tears continued to streak his face as I pulled the recliner closer to his bed.

We sat in silence for hours. I honestly thought he was asleep when I started to doze off myself, but then his raw, cracked voice made me jump. "She's the only one who stands a chance against them, isn't she?"

It felt like, for a brief moment, the world stopped spinning. I thought about what he was saying, about how badly we had all been defeated, and she was the only one who had been able to even hold them off. Fire with fire in a sense. "No." I quickly said, "We just have to keep trying different things. I won't let her do this. That isn't an option."

He looked at me, staring at me, like he had something to say, but then he just turned back away from me. He rolled onto his side facing away from me. I knew he wanted to argue, but he just didn't have it in him, and I was somewhat grateful for it. I heard him snore lightly, I knew exhaustion had finally taken its grip on him, and I let it do the same for me too even if the sky was already beginning to lighten up.

The first week he barely left that room. He wouldn't talk to Ruby, not at all. It was a month when he finally did say more than a sentence to her. She hung in there for him, and I was proud of her for it, because I knew it was hard on her. In that time, I focused on both of them, but I made sure to make it a point to make sure she was okay. She worked hard to control her powers, she spent hours in the gym. At first she was wearing herself out more than anything. Sometimes I wondered if she spent all the time at the gym to just get away, to act like everything wasn't happening like this. It was like her escape. I was grateful the press never got wind of her being one, I didn't know how to even try to handle that situation.

It wasn't until one day Loki 'found' my daughter in the gym alone that she started doing better with it, controlling it better, finding out more things she could do. She started growing stronger. I watched her workout everyday after that, and he was always there. I wanted to snap his neck some days- but I kept reminding myself what Thor had said about him being an expert on mutants of all different species, and I made myself take into consideration how much better she was doing because of him.

The mutants didn't stay hidden by any means, but they mainly just terrorized us. They didn't try to wreak havoc, but it was apparent that they were hiding something, and there were a lot of them. They were distracting us. I knew that there were different plans in the works, but I trusted them to work on it while I worked on keeping my family safe, and Ruby preoccupied.

Pepper, the love of my life that proved it to me over and over on a daily basis, not only took it upon herself to help me watch over Peter, but showed no fear with Ruby. She wasn't afraid of her as others in the building were, in fact, they were like best friends, and I knew that a best friend was exactly what Ruby needed.

I had fallen asleep on the couch as I watched TV, but really was thinking more about Ruby and Peter and the situation we were in, but I couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour or two when Nick was shaking me awake. "We have a plan, but you need to take your family out of town for a few days." He whispered.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I sat up, forcing my eyes to adjust, "What plan?"

"A plan to stop the mutants. Bruce came up with something that should stop them in their tracks. I don't want Ruby getting caught in the middle, and I know you don't want that either. It is clear that they're after her, so take her and Pepper and just go somewhere far for a few days." Nick said.

"Peter comes too. He stays with me until he is ready to not stay with me." I said.

Nick nodded, "You only have a couple of hours. You should stay completely off the grid. You need to hurry."

I woke Peter up first- I promised I wouldn't leave him and I meant it. "Peter, they have a plan to stop them. Nick just told me. He told me to get my family out of here for a few days… I consider you my family, but I know that I can't make you come. You can if you want though. I already told Nick. It's up to you, kid."

He stared at me, then nodded his head, "I want to come with you." He said.

"Alright, get what you need. He said we need to go off the grid, so be ready for that."

Pepper was less than enthused when I told her we needed to go off the grid, but she also understood. She knew how dangerous this situation clearly was. I knew Ruby would be the biggest challenge, so I saved her for last. In fact, I packed before telling her. Pepper packed stuff for her and Ruby both, along with camping gear. I knew where we would go, my parents had an old cabin in the rough of Maine, it burned some time ago, but it still had lots of land. We had camped not too far from where it had stood many of times, and I would take them there. It would be off the grid, and it would be far away.

I let Ruby wake up on her own, and when she shuffled from her room, I quickly stopped her. "We need to talk really quick." I said, and we went back into her room and sat on her bed. "They think they found a way to stop the mutants." I said, and her eyes widened, they became more alert, she was ready for the battle to stop them, "Nick told me to get you and Pepper out of here. If they are after you it could put a big kink in the plan. Bruce came up with something that should stop them. So, Pepper, you, Peter, and myself are leaving. He said we need to stay off the grid, so we are going to my parents old place in Maine, we will take the jet there. We will stay there until they come back for us, until it's over. Pepper packed some stuff for you, but you will still need some more clothes- pack warm. And pack your pillows and blankets."

It was a lot for her to take in all at once, "I could help." She finally said, "I could distract them long enough for them to do what they need to do to stop them."

"No, Ruby, Nick told me that you could complicate matters, it could be way bad for you to be there. We just need to go, please, don't argue… Besides, Peter, he needs you to come too." I said.

She sucked in a breath as if she was going to continue to fight, but then she just let it out. "I'll get dressed." She said.

I kissed her forehead, relief washing over my body. I just needed her to be safe, and I hated arguing with her. The thought of this being over, it was like a weight lifted off my body. It felt like I could breathe again.

We packed our things and boarded the jet. All the avengers were escorting us. "Did Nick tell you what is was?" Natasha asked in a whisper once we were in the air for around 20 minutes, and once I got away from my family.

"What what was?" I asked, confused.

"The plan. What was stopping them. The _real_ reason Ruby can't be here." She said. My confused look with furrowed brows was answer enough. "They called it a cure. It will suppress the mutant gene. Make them human, basically. Just the bad ones, of course."

"They're kids." I said. "I mean, most of them, they're teenagers, Ruby's age, does it wear off?" I asked.

She shook her head no, it was clear why she was telling me. She was giving me an alternative for Ruby. "I don't know how to feel about it either, but I can't help but to wonder if it will give them a shot at a more normal life. At a future that doesn't involve a maximum security prison for mutants."

"How do they know it works?" I asked.

"Bruce… He… You know how the government can be. They force your hand in these situations." She said. _He tried it on the ones we had already captured._ "He sped up aging on two of them too." She said once she knew I knew what had happened.

My stomach hurt. Had Ruby not found me she could have been one of them. Had I not found her that night after our fight, she could have been one of them. She could have been one of the two he killed. Natasha let me be there with my thought on everything she had just told me. All stuff I realized she wasn't supposed to tell me.

Peter sat in a chair, but I realized Ruby wasn't where I had left her. As my eyes searched the plane, I was slightly shocked, but more angry, to see Loki had pulled her into a dark corner. I stomped over to them, and the closer I got the more I felt like he had cornered her. "Loki, Ruby, what's going on?" I asked, my voice booming across the plane and everybody's eyes silently turning to us.

Ruby's face was slightly pale, her face slightly scrunched up as if she was confused. "Just talking with your lovely daughter. Telling her how important it is to continue to train." He said, but I couldn't help but feel it was more than that. "Loki, get away from her." Thor's voice boomed over the plane, and Loki, not breaking eye contact with me, ignored him, keeping himself firmly planted between me and my daughter. "Now, Loki." He said. This time, he smirked. "My brother thinks he controls me, but he is mistaken." He said.

Suddenly, Peter was between me and Loki. "Why don't you do what's best for you and listen to him." He snapped. His voice was low and dark.

Loki raised his brow, but then Thor suddenly had him and drug him away. Peter and I looked at Ruby, she stared back at us. "Are you okay?" Peter asked as he stuck his hand out to her.

"Do you know what they are doing to them?" Ruby asked, her eyes were dark as they met mine.

I hesitated at first, considering lying. I let out a long breath, "I just heard." I said, "Moments before you did."

"They can't do that! You have to stop them!" Her eyes went from dark, scared almost, to pleading with me, "It's not right! Two of them died!" She yelled.

"Rubes… Sometimes we have to do stuff we don't like for the greater good." I said, "No one wants to do that, but it could make mutant's futures brighter, give them a normal life, or at least a shot at one, and it could be the difference in stopping them from continuing to commit the terrible acts they are commiting."

She took in a sharp breath she furrowed her brows, staring at me harder, then she looked away and took a step back. "Is that really how you feel?" She asked, still not meeting my eyes.

"Ruby… I don't mean that every mutants should be forced into this. This is part of who you are, but what if you wanted to change it? What if it was something else- something debilitating. The main thing is for the ones who want to do bad things."

She rubbed her arm, taking in what I was saying, "Do you want me to take it?" She asked, and suddenly all eyes were on me. Peter stared at me, Ruby burned holes into me, and I could feel Pepper's eyes on me too. I knew, without even looking, that Loki had a grin on his face. He was amused. "Ruby, I love you. Every single part of you. Do I wish in some ways that you weren't- yes- but only because you would be safer. However, I only ever want what is best for you, and what you want. What makes you happy and keeps you safe. If you don't want to get rid of what you can do, then neither do I. It is part of what makes you, you. You don't hurt anyone with it, so I think that decision should be left up to you, but it makes no difference to me. You will be the same in my eyes. My Ruby. My daughter. I will love you no matter what."

Now it all shifted back to her. She had tears in her eyes, and I knew she was feeling a ton of emotions. "They think they're disposable just because they're different. The government feels that way of me too, doesn't it? If they knew I was one, they would make Bruce test it on me, or give me the final product, wouldn't they?"

I didn't know the answer to her question, and I wasn't going to lie to her. "I don't know, Rubes. Maybe. I know people make crazy decisions out of fear, they make ones that might not be right, so yeah, they may do that, but I would defend you until my last breath to give you the right to make that choice for yourself."

She nodded her head, not saying anything more. I sat her down in the chair next to Peter- I almost went and ripped Loki's head off, but I knew the day would come, it just wasn't today. The rest of the flight was uneventful. Once we landed, we quickly got off, and they quickly left again. The sun was just getting ready to set as we entered the woods, and out of all the things I thought my daughter might be scared of, never once did I think that the woods at night would be one of them; however, despite how brave she is and how well she can suppress fear, it quickly became apparent that this was one of her biggest.

We reach our campsite at nightfall, her hands trembled as she tried to maneuver her own tent, her eyes darting all around her. I went to give her a hand, and she jumped when I took the rod out of her hand. "Ruby, are you alright?" I asked.

She bit her lip as she nodded her head slowly. "I just… I don't really like being outside in the woods at night." She said.

"That's okay. You're allowed to be scared." I said, and almost instantly I knew this was the wrong thing to say.

"I'm not scared." She scoffed, "I lived basically on my own for years. I am not scared of the dark. I just don't like it."

"Whoa, whoa, I didn't mean to upset you. You just… You're literally shaking."

"I'm chilly. That's all." She snapped back.

I nodded my head, letting it go, and helping her in silence. When we were almost finished, I decided to bring it up again. "You know, Ruby, I know that you have bad history with the woods at night, and having traumatic things happen to you, it can create fear. There is nothing wrong with that. It is completely normal."

"I have bad history with the woods at night, that's what you're going to say? Bad history, really-" She started to snap, then clenched her eyes shut and took in a sharp inhale. "Yeah, I'm not afraid." She said as she grabbed her bag and threw it into the tent, then followed it in.

I let out a long sigh as I tried to decide whether or not I should go in and talk to her. "Tony, why don't you give her a little bit. Let's get the fire going." Pepper said. I turned and realized that Pepper and Peter had just witnessed the whole incident.

I helped Pepper get a fire going, and we cooked hotdogs over it, but Ruby didn't even come out to eat. I took Peter one, and he did eat it, but he also didn't leave the confinement of his own tent. "Do you think I should go try and talk to her?" I asked Pepper.

"No, I think you hurt her feelings. You should probably leave her alone for the night. This hasn't been an easy day." She said, "She'll be okay, Tony."

I nodded in agreement. We sat and stared up at the stars for a long time, letting the fire slowly die out. We were just about to head into our tent to go to sleep when Ruby came shooting out of her own tent, ready and alert. "There's someone else out there." She said.

"Rubes, you probably just heard something. There's no one out here. Just animals, it's okay." I said, thinking she was still just afraid of the dark.

She took in slow steady breaths as her eyes searched the treeline. "No, it's one of them." Her voice was barely above a whisper, and I knew it wasn't just her imagination. Peter quickly came from his tent, and just as he did, one of them came out of the treeline. Without even moving, Ruby suddenly had the three of us in her shield. "Ruby, no!" I yelled as I slammed into the side of it. She gave me a quick glance over her shoulder before turning back to the trespasser.

"Well well well, look at what we have here." The unknown female mutant said, "They really did send you all the way out here for your own protection."

"Leave" Ruby barked.

"Do you know what your friends tried to do to some of us?" She asked.

Ruby took in a sharp breath and looked away from her for a brief moment, "Yeah, I heard." She said.

"They'll turn on you too, Ruby. If they were to beat us, you would be the next target." She said.

"You're wrong." Ruby quickly said.

The strange mutant let out a cackle, "So naive. Just like your friends. They really didn't stand much of a chance. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely a surprise, and at first it was one hell of a drop on us, but we weren't going down that easy."

"What do you guys want? Why are you doing this?" Ruby asked.

The girl hesitated, looking over at us. "Make it so they can't hear us and I will tell you." She said.

"I don't know how." Ruby replied after a brief moment of silence while she tried.

"Then move them." She said, then silence fell between the two of them. "Trust me, Ruby. You want to send them away, because if this gets ugly, then they at least have a chance, and believe me, this could get ugly."

"Ruby, don't do it, let us out, we can help you." I begged.

"They're all just simple humans right now, you're putting them in danger by having them here." The girl said.

Ruby turned and looked at us, not making eye contact, and then with just the simple twitch of her hand, she sent the three of us flying through the air. "NO!" I screamed as we took off, begging her not to do this, to leave herself there to fight alone. We landed in a nearby bend of the river. The ball of energy kept us trapped, but out of the shallow water. The water moved around us as it would a rock, just gently rippling past. I hit the orb we were trapped, doing anything to break it, and Peter did the same. I tore at it, doing anything to get free,but it just absorbed every blow, rippling around my hand as if I had just thrown a stone on water, it didn't compromise its structure even in the slightest. We had been doing it for at least 10 minutes, when Pepper grabbed my shoulder, "Look you guys" She said. I looked at where she was pointing- light blazed through the tops of the trees, purple light, and as we continued to watch, we saw smoke rising too. After a few seconds, the ground shook so hard it knocked us over, then as it stopped the light disappeared, and with it, so did the orb we were trapped in, dropping us into the river.

We all quickly scrambled to the shore. "We have to go there." I said, and then Peter grabbed me, "I can get us there faster." He said, his voice was low. I nodded then turned to Pepper, "You stay here. Hide. Quietly move away if they come to this area, run if they see you, and scream if they try to take you." I ordered and she nodded. I held onto Peter as he shot his web and we went soaring through the air, swinging tree to tree. He was right, it was much faster than running.

The campsite was destroyed. Smoke still rose from the burnt, black tents. Part of the ground was cracked and split open. My eyes searched the demolished place, there was no sign of anything living. The mutants were gone without even the slightest trace- and so was Ruby.


	21. Chapter 21

I felt her well before I saw her. At first I thought, I knew, that I must be mistaken, there was no way that they found us all the way out here- right? But the closer she got, the more I could feel her presence. She wasn't hiding it by any means. I pushed everything aside as Loki had taught me- everything that had happened recently, I cleared it from my head, all the emotions I was feeling, from Peter to my dad, to everyone and everything else- the only thing I was focused on was keeping my family and myself safe from her.

I quickly exited my tent. "There's someone else out there." I said, not even looking at my dad and Pepper, just scanning the tree line, trying to figure out which way exactly she would be coming from.

"Rubes, you probably just heard something. There's no one out here. Just animals, it's okay." My dad said. _Please, don't treat me like I have scared myself over being afraid of the dark._ "No, it's one of them." I said, clearing my irritation back out of my mind. Just then, Peter came flying out of his tent and my dad stood up with Pepper, now they felt it too. As soon as she stepped out of the clearing, I wrapped them in a shield. I impressed even myself with the little effort it took to do it, it was nothing more than a thought- a silent order- and they were protected with the energy I produced. My dad slammed into the side of it "Ruby, no!" He yelled, but it was useless, I knew that if she wanted to, she could destroy them. They didn't stand a chance.

"Well well well, look at what we have here. They really did send you all the way out here for your own protection." The mutant said. I could feel power radiating off of her like she was an overcharged battery. I quickly began memorizing everything I could about the enemy. Tan skin, medium height, thin, chocolate brown eyes, and loose, curly dark hair. "Leave" I snapped as I continued to take in her every feature.

"Do you know what your friends tried to do to some of us?" She asked.

"Yeah, I heard." I said. For a moment, a very short moment, my heart broke. I knew how much it must hurt- the other mutants, they are her friends, and she too is being attacked and having something that makes her who she is and her friends who they are, taken away.

"They'll turn on you too, Ruby. If they were to beat us, you would be the next target." She said. It was my worst fear at this point, but I would be damned if I was going to let it stop me.

"You're wrong." I said simply. _Because if they try, I won't let them take me down._

She let out an awful laugh, "So naive. Just like your friends. They really didn't stand much of a chance. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely a surprise, and at first it was one hell of a drop on us, but we weren't going down that easy." They didn't stand much of a chance? My heart skipped a beat- _was this it? Were they dead?_

"What do you guys want? Why are you doing this?" I asked as I sucked in a sharp breath, pushing the thought away from me.

The girl hesitated, looking over my shoulder to my family. "Make it so they can't hear us and I will tell you." She said.

I instinctively tried to somehow make it thicker, make it so they couldn't hear, but I had no idea how to go about it. "I don't know how." I said.

"Then move them." She said, then hesitated, letting a tense silence fall between us, "Trust me, Ruby. You want to send them away, because if this gets ugly, then they at least have a chance, and believe me, this could get ugly."

She wasn't lying, I knew that there was a good chance that this would get ugly. Part of me wanted it to get ugly, I knew that there was more than just her here, I could feel them, it came through like static almost, as if there was a shield protecting them from me feeling their presence, but it was thin. If it got ugly, maybe I could take them all. Maybe I could end it. I was stronger than last time. "Ruby, don't do it, let us out, we can help you." My dad begged, pulling me from my thoughts.

"They're all just simple humans right now, you're putting them in danger by having them here." The girl said.

I looked over my shoulder, more of a glance, and then with just the slightest twitch of my hand, I was sending them away, flying through the air and landing gracefully, gently, safely, away from here. I didn't let the shield up though, I knew they would just come back here and could get themselves hurt. "Very good." The girl said, and I stared at her, waiting for my answer. "Ruby, you can't tell me that since you've come out about being a mutant, you haven't been treated different- by everybody- your family, your friends, your little boyfriend. I know you have, we all have. Society treats us different. They've known about us for a long time, but they just suppress us, send us away, lock us up, throw away the key, and forget about us. We are the next generation of humankind- we're the evolved kind- we don't deserve to be treated like that."

"So that's what you want? Just to be treated well? That's completely fair, you can tell people that without killing people and destroying things. All this does is show people that you are exactly what they fear." I said, relaxing a little bit.

She laughed, "We are passed trying to be treated fair. Now, we want everything. We want everyone to feel our wrath and see how we are more powerful. To see that it is them that is less than us. You're one of us, Ruby, you're evolved, you're more powerful than them, you deserve to be on top with us."

"That's where you keep losing me." I said.

"You don't have to join us, but we can't let you stand in our way, there are bigger things at work here, and you just keep putting a damper on our plans. This should be almost over, but you just keep interfering." She said, as five more stepped out from under their hiding spot.

I put all my focus back on them, "I'm sorry, I can't stand by and let you do this, let you hurt people. Innocent people." As I looked at all of their faces, I realized I recognized one of them- the flamethrower- I heard he had somehow got away, but the burns that stretched up his neck and face from his chest confirmed that it was, in fact, him- and his smile confirmed that he had hoped that that would be my answer.

"Then you have to be taken out of the picture." Another one said.

They came at me full force again, and I was ready to shield myself. I fought harder this time- I was able to make my shield smaller as to just fit me, and it was stronger. I moved closer, dodging shots where I could. I sent balls of energy at them, striking back, hitting some of them, but I couldn't manage to capture anyone. Suddenly, the girl who had talked to me stepped into the frontline for the first time. She hit me with what I thought was lightning, and I deflected it with my shield, but suddenly I could feel myself becoming drained, like I was losing my powers. I created a wall, and I began putting all I could into it. It began shining brighter and brighter, and it was hot. They were hitting back with all they had. Blood was dripping from my nose as I tried to trap them in it, but I was failing, I couldn't go forward with how hard they were hitting back, but I was still pushing them back slowly from the extreme heat and power that radiated off of it.

It was no longer purple, it was more of a white- maybe even a light bright blue. My body was shaking, I was giving it all I had. I felt something hot hit me from the side, but I couldn't draw my focus away. It hit me again, ripping the air from my lungs, the third and last time it hit me it was weaker, but I was already so weak that it didn't matter. As I gave the shield the last of what I had it got even brighter. I was suddenly hit from the side, but this time it was by something solid. I was knocked to the side just as they hit me with their powers again, and just as my shield exploded.

Blackness consumed me just after the force from the explosion hit me. When I finally came to, I could feel someone's hand on my back, my eyes felt burnt- my body felt burnt. It hurt to breathe, and I couldn't manage to force my eyes open. The longer I laid there, the more the pain became apparent. I realized I was laying on someone- I could hear their heartbeat and them breathing long deep breaths- I was on their chest. I needed to move. I tried to slide off, but the hand gripped me harder, keeping me firmly on them, "Don't move, wait until it's clear. I'll get you help then." Loki's voice whispered. I forced my eyes open- or one of them- the other one was so swollen I couldn't even force it open. I pushed harder against him but he kept me there with ease. I was so weak. "Ruby lay still." He snapped. I didn't stand a chance against him.

After a few more seconds, he got up, gently rolling me off of him. "You're hurt badly. Don't get up." He ordered, "I'm going to get you help." He said.

"How did you know?" I asked. I sounded like I was a long-term smoker.

"I suspected it from the beginning. I knew they would try to find you, you're too much of a risk. Now, I mean it, you lay here, do not make a sound."

"My family." I coughed.

"I know, we'll find them." He said, his voice a little softer, then he limped out of the woods.

I laid there, just focusing on staying conscious, it wasn't getting any better. I heard rustling out in the clearing by where the battle had just ensued. I laid motionless, trying to hold my breath. "Where could have they gone?!" My dad's voice snapped, full of anxiety and fear. I sat forward, trying to figure out if this was a trap. My vision was poor but I could make out his shape. I slowly and quietly made it to my feet as he scrambled, looking for some sort of hint to what had happened and where I went.

"Dad" I finally managed to say as I went tree to tree leaning heavily on each one. His head snapped around, and suddenly someone else had me too- Peter- he held my waist, trying to keep me steady. My dad quickly came to me, picking me up. I fell limp in his arms. "Peter, go get Pepper now and head back this way. We have to get to the landing spot now, we have to find a way to get her out of here." My dad ordered.

"Loki" I choked out, both of them snapping their eyes to me, "He went to get help."

"Loki was here? When?" My dad asked. It hurt to even breathe. I sucked in several long hard breaths, trying to get myself together enough to talk. Peter took off to go get Pepper and my dad laid me back down on the ground. "You don't have to talk, not now." He said, "You'll start healing soon."

I managed to shake my head no. Something else was wrong with me, because my shield just failed, and my super healing wouldn't work. "Can't" I said, and then the pain began disabling me more. My head throbbed and my body burned.

"Shhhh, Ruby you're going to be fine, I promise." He said, but I could feel something wasn't right. Tears streaked his face.

I blacked out again, and when I woke up, I was laying on a hospital bed hooked to several machines, my right leg was in a sling lifted above my head, and my right arm in a sling hooked tightly to my chest. I touched my face, only one eye was still able to be opened- my right one. Only my dad was in the room with me. "Dad," I said, I sounded stronger.

He sat straight up, his eyes soft as he met mine. "Hey, Rubes." He said, "How do you feel?"

I hurt. Not near as bad as I did before, but still pretty bad. "Better than in the woods."

"I'm sure you do." He said then sat back a little bit, "Do you remember what happened in the woods?" He asked.

"Yeah, right up until I passed out." I said.

He nodded his head, relief washing over his expression. "You shouldn't have done what you did, Ruby. It wasn't smart. You almost got yourself killed. I was scared to death."

I laid my head back and stared at the ceiling. "I'm going to fight them. You're not going to keep sending me away." I said, then glanced back over at him. His face was twisted in confusion.

"Rubes… Are you sure you remember everything?" He asked. I sat forward and stared at him, and he sucked in a deep breath and put his face into his hands, rubbing it and then looking back up to me. "Ruby, you lost your powers. That's why you're not healing, why your powers gave out."

My world felt like it shook. I stared up at him, "No, you're wrong." I said.

"Rubes… I wish I was. More than anything, but it's true. You're here, battling to get better, battling an infection from your burns, you've been out for 4 days… If it helps at all, you gave us enough of an edge, that they followed the ones who attacked you back to their headquarters, and they… They took care of them. There is no fight to be in." Tears streaked from the eye that was still good, I didn't understand. How did it happen? How did I suddenly lose my powers? "Ruby… Sometimes things happen and they- they're for the best."

"Get out." I said as a sob bubbled through my lips, "I don't need to hear how this is good, and how what I did was wrong- get out!"

He left without another word. I put my hands over my face and cried. I hit the side of the bed in fury- I didn't understand. All the plans I had made for myself- they were based around me having those gifts, and now they were gone.

It had been about an hour since my dad left when Loki came through my door. "What do you want?" I snapped as I sat forward.

"You did really well." He said somberly.

"Yeah, whatever. Why don't you just go? Why do you keep hanging around me?" I snapped.

He rubbed his jaw and turned like he was going to leave. "I just want you to know I'm sorry how it happened."

"What a coincidence, me too."

"Ruby…" He started, then paused, meeting my eyes, "You and I, we are a lot alike."

"How do you figure?" I asked.

"Well, we are both the outcast, we both found out who we were a little later in life, we are both smart, and we have both been tricked into thinking certain things about ourselves." He said, then began to exit my room, but stopped in the doorway and turned to meet my eyes again, " _Ah yes_ , and of course, we both look stunning in green."

I was left with only more questions and slightly grossed out. I laid my head back onto my pillow and drifted into a less than peaceful sleep. I was shaken awake several hours later by a doctor, my pain had gotten worse. "Good morning. I'm just here to change your bandages and give you some more painkillers. How are you feeling?" She asked.

"I'm in pain." I said. She nodded her head as she pulled my blanket down- it was the first time I was able to see the extent of my injuries. My not casted leg was wrapped in bandages, it was burned and beaten from my ankle up to my hip. As she lifted the gown, I could see that the burns didn't stop there, they worked their way all the way up my hip and across my chest. I was beaten and broken.

"You have an infection, we have given you antibiotics and it is clearing up. Once it is cleared up completely and your pain is at a manageable level, we will send you home. I've been told how much you dislike the infirmary." She said as she finished up changing my bandages.

"Yeah, thanks." I said. Once she was finished up I laid my head back down to try and drift to sleep, but there was a knock at the door. I sat back forward as my dad came back in. "Feeling alright?" He asked.

"Not really." I mumbled. He came up to my bedside and gently kissed my forehead.

"I'm so sorry Ruby." He whispered, "I wish it was different, but listen, you are still you. You are amazing, and smart, and strong. What you did, it was still amazing. Without you, we would have never beaten them. We wouldn't have stood a chance. You not only weakened them by taking out the stronger ones, but you had them so scrambled they took us right to their hideout."

"What do you mean I took out the stronger ones? I didn't take anybody out." I said.

Silence fell back over us. "Rubes… When you said you remembered everything from when you blacked out, when was that?"

"In the woods, right after you found me and sent Peter to get Pepper. You just told me I was going to be fine." I said, "Then I blacked out."

He let silence fall between us before sucking in a long breath, "You didn't black out then.

I came looking for you, and you stumbled out of the woods, you looked half dead. You could barely breathe, you were burnt, and bleeding. I thought you were going to die in my arms right there in the woods. You started talking about Loki, and as much as I wanted to get it out of you, I wanted you to save every piece of energy you had. Peter went to get Pepper. I just held you, promising you it would be okay. I heard the jet land in the distance, but I knew that they would bring a stretcher of some sort if Loki had been there. Peter and Pepper got back just as they got there. They were so beaten, and they weren't all there, I knew it had gone bad. Thor and Loki helped load you up, you were in so much pain. I knew that your leg was broken, and I thought your shoulder might be, and they agreed with me. We were about half way back when they appeared. No one was in any shape to fight, especially you. I did all I could to protect you, but in the end, I had to help fight or we were all going to die right then and there. I left you, laying there, in and out of consciousness. The next thing I knew, there you were, fully charged up I guess. I mean you were still hurt, but suddenly you were ready to fight. You could fight. They were all shocked when you started throwing your balls of energy and shielding us, and now, of course, we know why they were shocked, they had just done something that took your powers away, but at that point I guess you were still hanging on to them. You killed the girl, the girl who took away your powers. It was crazy, you threw your energy ball and it engulfed her and just destroyed her. You did the same thing with the fire guy. Then you did it with another. You killed 3, all within seconds of one another, then the others got the hint and they ran for the hills. You blacked out then. You were standing, and then you were falling. I caught you, we got you back here. It was a rough first 24 hours. You were having seizures, and you had head injuries and a fever. There was really a point when we thought you weren't going to make it. There was a crash team there on standby just in case. I was terrified, we all were. Sure enough, you pulled through like a champ. After that first vital 24 hours, I couldn't do it, I'm somewhat ashamed to say it, but I couldn't watch you and wonder what breath might be your last. So, I went out, I helped them get the rest of them. Peter was vengeful, it had nothing to do with not being able to watch you suffer, and everything to do with revenge. Which, I don't blame him and I am in no way judging him for. For me, it had a little to do with revenge too. Pepper stayed with you the whole time, she wouldn't leave your side. She kept me updated- or she would have if you would have gotten worse. Either way, you pulled through, and none of it would have been possible without you."

I took in everything he just told me. It was a lot to take in. "I never wanted to kill anyone. I mean, I'm not speaking in that instance, but I mean I don't want to hurt anyone, that has never been my goal or what I wanted." I said.

"Rubes, there wasn't another choice." My dad said.

"Yeah… Yeah, I guess." I said.

Silence fell between us again. "Rubes, you look pretty beat, why don't you get some rest?" I nodded my head in reply and he shut the lights off as he left my room, leaving me alone.


End file.
